Making the world better through engineering
NAME: Ashley DeLong
CLASS YEAR: 2023
HOMETOWN: Clear Lake, Iowa
MAJOR: Engineering and Physics
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT: Chemistry Club, Physics Club, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Women’s Golf, Kappa Mu Epsilon, and Sigma Pi Sigma
WHY WARTBURG: I first started looking at bigger universities for engineering, but I visited Wartburg and I knew that it was my college. Then hearing that I was able to continue my golf career while also pursuing and being successful in my major, that sealed the deal for me, and that’s why I came here!
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR MAJORS: I have wanted to be an engineer since I was 10 years old. I love solving problems and want to make the world better by making a more innovative and technologically advanced world. I also like being able to work with teams and lead teams. All those things are incorporated into engineering. Physics came about because I wanted to go more on the electrical engineering path.
HOW HAS WARTBURG PREPARED YOU FOR THE FUTURE: We’re taught how to work through hard problems. STEM is not always easy, but the professors do a great job of teaching us how to work through it, and they set us up for success. I had an internship this past summer at Mechdyne, and I actually got that internship because of an email from the physics department saying they were looking for STEM people. Wartburg making that internship opportunity available to me allowed me to be successful in my career. The professors are there to help and are so welcoming. I can go talk to them about anything from graduate school plans to what to look for in jobs.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER GRADUATION: I am attending Purdue University to pursue my Ph.D. in electrical engineering.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS: I would say getting this Outstanding Senior award. It’s probably one of my biggest accomplishments because I think it shows it’s possible to be involved on campus and still get a good education. I think that’s been something that I’m proud of. It can be hard to balance everything at once. Getting accepted into graduate school was another thing. They both showed anyone wanting to come Wartburg that you’re able to balance a lot of thing and still retain very high success.
HOW HAS BEING PART OF THE GOLF TEAM SHAPED YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A STUDENT: Women’s golf has shaped my Wartburg experience by giving me the chance to make friends and become close with my teammates. My freshman year we got to move in a couple weeks earlier than everyone else. When I came to Wartburg, I was nervous because it was an entirely new environment, but I was able to walk into these girls’ arms and I already had five immediate friends. They were able to show me around campus and they showed me what a welcoming environment was like as a freshman. As a senior now, I’m trying to be a leader in the same way. Wartburg women’s golf showed me friendship, leadership, teamwork, and how to support one another through difficulties. I’ve gotten so much from those experiences!
WHAT IS ONE MEMORY YOU WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER FROM YOUR TIME AT WARTBURG: When I’ve traveled to tournaments with the golf team. Those travel days were the most fun. Even when you are down, your teammates are there to make you laugh and cheer you up. It’s the best thing I can remember. I’m going to miss the little things, like hanging out or studying with friends, going for walks around campus, just enjoying each other’s company. That’s going to be the hardest part about leaving.
WHAT IMPACT DO YOU HOPE TO HAVE MADE ON CAMPUS: I hope to have shown that it is possible to be involved and still be successful. I think a lot of people get caught up in routine. They get worried that they can’t do a club because it won’t turn out how they thought it would. I’m not even a chemistry major, and I committed to the Chemistry Club and loved it. It has given me connections to professors and opportunities I never thought would have been possible. You can be involved and still retain the level of success, keep good relationships with professors, be a good athlete, be a good club member; I hope that I am able to show other incoming students that this is possible at Wartburg.