‘I want to set an example for future students’
NAME: Ahmed Bassam (Bassam)
CLASS YEAR: 2025
HOMETOWN: Hulhudhuffaaru, Maldives
MAJOR: Sociology (criminology) and Psychology
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT: Men’s Soccer, Orientation Leader, Entertainment ToKnight, Service Trips
TELL US ABOUT YOUR HOME: I am from a very small island in the Maldives, which is a country comprising dozens of islands. The island I am from is about 12 hours by boat or 4 hours by speed boat from the capital of Malé. In a plane, it’s around 30-45 minutes to get to the capital. It’s a really beautiful place. The island that I am from is known for its beach. We have a lot of good diving and snorkeling spots around the island as well. With my family and friends, we spend time together doing anything related to the ocean. We usually do a lot of snorkeling and free diving, so that is probably my favorite thing to do. We also do spear fishing.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE WARTBURG: I went to the United World Colleges in Swaziland, which is located in South Africa. When I was there, we always heard and talked about the colleges you can apply to in the United States. I knew that the more famous the college was, the more city-based it would be, and I wanted small places that were calm and chill. Since I grew up in a small island with a population of only 1,500 people, I am not really a city person. I was doing research and Wartburg was one of the two places I was thinking of applying. I met Kassy Grosser because she did a presentation at my school. She explained that Wartburg was a smaller environment. She was showing how green it gets at Wartburg during the summer and I thought, “Wow, that is my place.” I love the green and I like the quiet and not being too busy. I am very used to being around small communities and I didn’t think I was ready to go to a city.
However, after graduating UWC, my initial plan was to go aviation school. Though I am very interested in psychology, aviation is always going to be my plan A. I am very passionate about flying and aviation, and so I applied to aviation school. I got in, but when COVID hit, things didn’t work out, so I decided to apply for college. The only place that I applied to was Wartburg; it was the top of my list. I applied, and in about a few days I was accepted. With aviation schools, finances are a huge part of the process. I think I am going to be taking the longer route to achieve that goal. At some point in my life, I am going to have that license.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO STUDY PSYCHOLOGY AND CRIMINOLOGY: When I was younger, I used to be very fond of psychology. In terms of mental health, it’s not something that is really spoken about in the Maldives. They used to not believe in mental health problems at all. They are so used to living such a normal life that they don’t really know that they are experiencing these types of things. Traditional people in the Maldives depended on fishing and the ocean. When you are out there in the ocean, you don’t have time to think about things like mental health. As I did more research, and I started learning, I became more interested. People would share different things about what they were feeling, and I started to connect that to my research. I got here and I was studying psychology and loving it, and then I took a sociology class where I did some research on sociology and criminology. A good majority of my friends work in the prisons in the Maldives as high security officers. I heard a lot about how things worked there in the Maldives in the prisons. I wanted to know why people do those things and how that connected to psychology. The two majors really go well together.
WHAT IS ONE OF YOUR GOALS IN THE PSYCHOLOGY FIELD: In the Maldives, we don’t really have a massive research organization when it comes to psychology. I want to work somewhere abroad and get connected with research companies and I want to take them to the Maldives. A lot of people think because of the way we look that we are similar to other Asian cultures, but we are different. Not every Asian culture gets to grow up around a beach every day or eat fish every day. The basis of our culture and traditions is very different. We might have good things to contribute to psychological research.
YOU ARE ON THE MEN’S SOCCER TEAM. TALK ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES AS PART OF THE TEAM: I’ve played football my whole life. It started from my grandpa to my dad, and it was passed down to me. My whole family played football, and we still play now. Football has been a really big part of my life and when I went to UWC, I had great memories at UWC playing. When I knew I got accepted here to Wartburg, the first thing I looked for was a team. It came up as American football, and I found out that here you guys call it soccer. I looked at the pictures and none of them looked international to me. I talked to several international students, and we found out there weren’t many international students on the team, and we didn’t know why. I told people that when I got to Wartburg, I was going to change that.
I spent my first year trying to get used to life in the U.S. and the schedules and the amount of work required. Once I figured that out, it was mission time. I had a class with the captain of the football (soccer) team, Caleb, and I got connected with him and the coach. I got the international student support staff involved too to try to make a better connection. For me personally, if you want to do something you have to be dedicated, and you have to understand the consequences and complications that you are going to face. I knew if I wanted to set an example, I had to stick to it and find a way to manage my time. There are now four international students on the team.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES AS PART OF THE TEAM: The reason I love Wartburg men’s soccer is because when I got here, I knew I would have an international family here. I knew they were going to be there, but I also knew I had to find a way to get connected with the local community. It is always good to make new relationships. When I joined the team, since day one, they were very welcoming, and they really felt like a family. I felt like I belonged. When people ask me why I joined and why I stayed, my answer is that they are an awesome family on campus and that’s the main reason. The best memories I have are traveling with the team to games. I get to stick around with the team and see what they do every day and be a part of it.
YOU ARE ALSO AN ORIENTATION LEADER. WHY DID YOU APPLY TO BE ON STAFF AND WHAT DO YOU ENJOY: The main reason I applied was because of my own experience in orientation. I saw how the orientation leaders were connected to each other and how much fun they had. It seemed like such a good family to me. You get really tired during orientation, but the energy you get to spread is phenomenal, and I wanted to be a part of that team. The second reason I applied was I saw how much it helps giving people that experience. I have friends at other colleges, and they don’t really put as much effort into orientation as we do here, so I knew it was a great opportunity to improve myself as a leader and one of the best ways to serve the community. For me the highlight was definitely the training, going out and spending time with just the leaders. The greatest part is the family we create during training. That’s something that I think is really important and that I really enjoy doing.
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU INVOLVED IN ON CAMPUS: I, along with my co-leader Bailey Erickson, led a service trip to Atlanta, Georgia. We helped with homelessness and poverty in that area. I love community service a lot. When I was in Swaziland, I went to a preschool and worked with little kids. I colored with them and played soccer and climbed with them. We painted and drew together. My second year I did service that was funded by the UWC in Singapore. We went to primary schools, and we tested the children’s eyes for free. There were kids who were actually blind, and they were so used to it their parents didn’t even know, so we helped them get glasses. I heard about Service Trips here and I knew I wanted to fit it somewhere into my schedule because I love to contribute to the community I am in.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT YOURSELF THROUGH YOUR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS: I thought that I wasn’t very patient, but I have learned that I am very patient in terms of waiting for things I want. I learned that I always make room in my mind for patience, and I learned a lot of skills to improve my leadership. I learned what style of leadership I prefer, which is collaborative leadership. Instead of being the boss, I like to work with people and be among them. Additionally, I have learned that if you are really dedicated, you can always make time. But it’s also okay to not do things and say no to things when it comes to mental health and other things. I now know to say no to things that I know I won’t have time to do.
WHAT IS A FUN MEMORY YOU HAVE ON CAMPUS: During breaks, we always gather a bunch of international students and other people to play volleyball.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT IOWA: I love the snow and the sceneries. I know in Iowa there are not mountains, but the sunsets and everything is amazing. I love the greenery, and I like the communities and how friendly and quiet they are.
HOW DO YOU HOPE TO IMPACT THE WARTBURG COMMUNITY: For me personally, it’s all about sharing; sharing my experiences. I think that’s really important in terms of growth in the community because when there is nothing to teach, there isn’t much growth. When there is always something to teach, like my experiences and how I grew up, and how I came here — all of those things are going to impact the community to grow. It allows people to learn a lot about the diverse world, and I want to set an example for the future students who are going to come here.
WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR STUDENTS LOOKING AT OR CURRENTLY IN COLLEGE: Remember that no matter where you go, you will always hear negative and positive things about a place, or about what you chose to do. But if you hold on to negatives, you will forget to appreciate the good things that we get in everyday life or good things that are to come. The more you try to be grateful for the positives, you will be fine in the end. As an international student it is hard, even with simple things such as not being able to have public transportation but think about the positive part. The more you focus on the negative, the worse you will feel about anything you do. That is a mindset I always try to have having traveled to many different places. It’s like love and hate. You can’t be okay with something you hate. But if you try to find something to love within everything you do, even if it’s not very pleasurable, you will be okay. Appreciate what you have.
WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO LEARN FROM YOUR STORY: Learning never stops. You can always find a way to do things, like how I did with my aviation dream. You can always choose the long route. There will always be obstacles on the road, but it’s how you overcome them, and how you learn every day. Not every time you fall you will break your leg; you can always get up and start walking again.