Wartburg helped me seek excellence

Chris Tripolino

NAME: Chris Tripolino 

CLASS YEAR: 2005 

MAJORS: Music (Applied) 

CURRENT EMPLOYMENT: Inspiring experience curator, Jacob’s Well

WHY WARTBURG: It was all about community. With as long a line of family members who graduated from and worked for Wartburg as I had, I didn’t want to come to Wartburg. Still, I took a token college visit and was blown away. I experienced incredible welcome from people on campus, felt at home immediately, got to partake in a rehearsal of the Wartburg Choir (sitting between a former mentor and a featured soloist from the Iowa All-State festival two years before), and came out to a big sign on the wall from high school friends welcoming me to Wartburg. It was the perfect balance of challenge and support. I was able to meet greater challenges and dive in to unique experiences because of the incredible support of the Wartburg community.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU NEVER IMAGINED YOU COULD DO BEFORE COMING TO WARTBURG: Leading in strategic and visionary ways, driving organizational culture, and deeply mentoring others.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WARTBURG TRADITION: Probably PDB Day (Polka and Dilly Bar) with the Wartburg College Concert Bands, but Ausflug is pretty amazing too.

HOW DID YOUR WARTBURG EXPERIENCE PREPARE YOU FOR LIFE AFTER COLLEGE: My Wartburg experience helped me to seek excellence; to see learning, community, and faith as interconnected elements of life; to find passion in teaching and mentoring others; and gave solid experience for a job in the Church.

WHY WAS YOUR WARTBURG EXPERIENCE WORTH IT: My Wartburg experience was invaluable to me. I made amazing friends, discerned my calling, and traveled the world while being stretched and prepared for my life’s work. 

HOW DO YOU LIVE OUT THE WARTBURG MISSION: I really was challenged and nurtured by my time at Wartburg and am now serving and leading in an innovative church in Minneapolis and with underserved youth in the city. It’s almost a cliché how cleanly I fit into that mission statement.

WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS: Simplify. Fill your bucket with the “big rocks” first (find and focus on the stuff that’s actually important to you) and then make decisions with those values in mind.