‘I had opportunities to grow in and beyond the classroom’
NAME: Joey Gutzmann
MAJOR: Music Education
YEAR: 2024
HOMETOWN: Fond du Lac, Wis.
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT: Festeburg, Wartburg Choir, Ritterchor,Wartburg American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE WARTBURG: I chose Wartburg because of the community and the excellent educators who are in the music department.
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR MAJOR: I thought I would be a computer science major until senior year of high school, when I realized that I was meant to teach.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER GRADUATION: I will be teaching grades 5-12 choir in Grundy Center.
HOW HAS WARTBURG PREPARED YOU FOR YOUR FUTURE: Wartburg provided me with opportunities to grow both in and beyond the classroom. I am the type of person who seeks extended learning opportunities, and I was consistently able to take what I learned in the classroom and immediately apply it!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE WARTBURG EXPERIENCE: My favorite experience at Wartburg was going on international tour!
WHAT WAS ONE THING YOU DID AT WARTBURG YOU NEVER EXPECTED YOU WOULD DO: I never expected to take an independent study. I’ve had two now. One was an independent study focusing on repertoire selection for my job at Grundy Center. I took this as a chance to prepare and have guided learning in a practical scenario. In fact it’s almost as if I’m continuing my Wartburg experience in my job next year!
The other was a group study where we focused on a variety of topics, brining in and discussing choral rehearsal techniques, philosophy, and various other topics with guests as well as Dr. Lee Nelson. It was very helpful in preparing for anything that we wanted to learn more about.
WHO HAS BEEN SOMEONE WHO HAS HELPED YOU SUCCEED AT WARTBURG: I would like to lift up both Sarah Bouska and Dr. Nelson. Both of these mentors consistently guided me to make the best decisions to grow not only as an educator but as a person. My life would not be the same without them.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CLASS: My favorite class was probably Conducting II.
WHAT WAS YOUR HARDEST CLASS: The hardest class I took on campus was Music History I.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS OR UNDERCLASSMEN: Try everything. College is a time to figure out what you love and what you are passionate about. Don’t close off doors because you think you’re too busy. The worst thing that could happen is that you discover that you don’t like an activity and don’t continue on with it. Get involved.