People here care about me

NAME: Maddie Fletcher       
CLASS YEAR: 2020
HOMETOWN: Iowa City, Iowa
MAJORS: Art and business administration

INVOLVEMENT ON CAMPUS: I have been on the Wartburg Dance Team all four years of my time on campus and have been a co-captain of the team for the past two years. I also participated in Wartburg’s Leadership and Service Summit as a mentee as a junior in high school (at the time it was called the High School Leadership Institute – HSLI) and this past year as a mentor in the program.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE WARTBURG: Wartburg was the first college I formally visited as a high school student, and I knew after that first visit that this is where I wanted to go. I liked the size of the campus and classes because they were smaller and more intimate than larger schools. I noticed that everyone on campus was extremely welcoming and genuine. People always made me feel like I was accepted, and I could tell that even though the faculty wants students to come to Wartburg, they cared more about me finding the best college for me, whether that was Wartburg or not.

Wartburg’s atmosphere also made me feel like I was at home, which was important for me, being that I spent a lot of time with my family at home, and I was going to be transitioning into college life. I love how the campus activities bring everyone together and make the student body feel like one big family. I feel like the people here care about me and the education I am receiving is extremely valuable.

Maddie Fletcher

HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON YOUR MAJORS: I came into Wartburg not knowing what I wanted to pursue. Art was my passion, but I was stuck on the “starving artist” stereotype. Everyone told me I could not make a living off being an artist, so I considered other career paths. My first semester of college, I was a physics major because I thought I could make a decent living off of it, and I always thrived in math and science. However, I found that it was incredibly difficult for me and I could not see myself enjoying doing anything science-related for the rest of my life. Though I liked physics, it was not my passion. I realized that I should not put my time into pursuing something for the financial aspects of it alone. Yes, the financial component is something anyone should keep in mind. However, I knew that as long as I followed my passion, I would make it work and work through the struggles that came with pursuing this path.   

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER GRADUATION: My plans are to live somewhere between Iowa City and Waverly and get a job that brings together both my art and business majors, whether that is in marketing, design, or something of that nature. I am pretty open to whatever career path I follow, but I do know that I want to continue painting and creating artwork in some way. 

HOW DID WARTBURG PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR NEXT STEP: The education I have received here has taught me so many things that I feel like I can apply to every aspect of my professional, educational and personal life. I see connections to the things I have learned here every day and feel like when I graduate, I will be prepared to enter the workforce.

DID YOU COMPLETE ANY INTERNSHIPS: Yes, after taking ID 315: Leadership Theories and Practices and working with Retrieving Freedom, Inc., I was offered an internship there. I spent eight months as the facility’s live-in intern, taking care of the dogs and keeping the kennels clean, as well as creating various marketing and design materials for the organization.

DO YOU HAVE ANY MENTORS ON CAMPUS: My art professor, Barbara Fedeler, has been a huge part of my journey here at Wartburg. I feel like I can ask her questions about both art and non-art related things and she always offers me advice and ways to improve. She always pushes me to be both a better artist and person.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WARTBURG MEMORY: There are too many Wartburg memories for me to even begin to choose just one, but what I have enjoyed the most is the friends and people I have met throughout my four years here. I can talk to another student that I have never met, and we can have a conversation as if we were friends who have spent time together.

Waking up at 5:45 a.m. to the sound of drums, students yelling “Outfly! and running in the dark to the bell to celebrate, staying up until 1:00 a.m. watching “The Office” with newly found friends through the LSS program, traveling abroad to Italy with my classmates, biking around Waverly and campus during May Term, getting to dance at football games, cheering on my favorite team in the world, waking up every morning to the sunrise over the football field from my Clinton bedroom. These are just some of the many memories I cherish at Wartburg.

WHY IS WARTBURG WORTH IT: Wartburg is worth it because of the memories I have been able to create and the education I have been given, providing me with the knowledge I need to be successful in whatever I choose to pursue and how I have grown and changed as a person over the past four years.