Wartburg faculty care for their students
NAME: Malcolm Newell
CLASS YEAR: 2023
HOMETOWN: Waverly, Iowa
MAJOR: Economics and Business Administration (Finance)
CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT: Baseball, Student Senate Student Body Treasurer, Operator at the Information Desk
WHY WARTBURG: I am a fourth generation Wartburg student. Additionally, all three of my siblings went to Wartburg. Initially during my college search, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to come to Wartburg like the rest of my family. However, a big part of my decision was the fact I would have the opportunity to continue playing baseball. Along with that, I was able to be close to my family and get a quality education.
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR MAJORS: My interest in business and economics started in high school where I was in DECA, and I was able to compete at the national competition four times. I was traveling all over and I just kind of knew that it was something that clicked with me. My junior year of high school, I took both macroeconomics and microeconomics at Wartburg, and I did really well. I realized that I was successful in those classes, and I wanted to continue doing it. I then chose to pick up a data analytics minor because data analytics is very connected to the two majors.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER GRADUATION: My plans for next year are to go to the University of Iowa for a Master of Science in business analytics and finance. I will also be a TA for microeconomics and hopefully work with the Iowa baseball team in data analytics.
HOW HAS WARTBURG PREPARED YOU FOR THE NEXT STEP: I think the opportunity of being a Supplemental Instructor really prepared me for my field, and because of that position, it helped me to get the TA position at the University of Iowa, which will be an incredible opportunity. But what has really prepared me has been my amazing professors. My adviser, Dr. (Nana) Quaicoe is just so passionate every day and it really makes it easy to come to class. One second, he’s very loud and the next thing he’s whispering and everything he talks about is just amazing. His classes have been really engaging. In general, just the amount of care that Wartburg faculty has is amazing. In every class you take, even if it is a general education course, they’re not going to let you drown. The faculty and staff have given me opportunities to challenge myself and to work harder. The culture here is to challenge yourself and to push yourself and be as active as you can be.
HOW HAS BEING A PART OF THE BASEBALL TEAM IMPACTED YOUR EXPERIENCE AT WARTBURG: Around my sophomore year of high school, I really fell in love with the game. I just knew I wanted to play college baseball. Additionally, after I graduated high school, my high school coach invited me back to interview for assistant coach position for Waverly-Shell Rock. I went through that process, and I got the job and I coached there for three years. For most of my college career, I’ve been both playing and coaching. That experience has really grown my love of the game, because of the process that it takes to play baseball. Baseball is filled with so much failure. Some of the best hitters are failing 70% of the time. As a pitcher, you face so much adversity, but just being able to adapt and learn from failing and getting right back up has taught me so much. At the same time, I’m holding myself to a higher standard because I coached high school kids on how to deal with failure as well. I taught them how they can enjoy the process, knowing it’s not always going to go their way. I think the love has really developed through coaching and through my own development. But the best part about baseball has been the team. My teammates at Wartburg have completely made the experience worth it. From sitting together at the lunch table in the Mensa, to working out with the guys at 6:00 a.m., I have just enjoyed the environment of being at the field with a family of friends. It’s just been amazing.
HOW HAVE YOU EMBODIED THE WARTBURG PILLARS ON CAMPUS: I think there are so many opportunities here to lead. Being the student body treasurer, I’m in the executive team role for Student Senate in which we do funding allocations. We have meetings with all the clubs, and I’ve been able to work with so many club leaders. There were 41 different clubs that came in, and that proved to me every student has an opportunity to be a part of an executive team or be the leader of a club here. So, I think we really foster that pillar of leadership with being able to have a culture of encouraging people to lead and find ways to bring your personality and be able to mold that with your passions.
WHAT IS ONE MEMORY YOUR WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER FROM YOUR YEARS HERE: The conference baseball tournament last year and the run that we made was special. Being a part of a group that was working so hard and seeing that pay off was special. Every time I go on the field now in my last year, I try to remember those little things. Whether that was catching baseballs or joking with guys. Another memory I have was last year, my roommate Gordy Field came up to me and suggested the idea that we run for president and vice president for Student Senate together. I thought the idea was farfetched, and I ended up backing out of it. But he went ahead and ran for president, and he got it. That’s when I applied to be in Senate and then ran for treasurer. He had that faith in me, and Senate ended up being such a memorable part of my college career.
HOW DID YOUR EXPERIENCE AS TREASURER PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR FUTURE GOALS: I have learned so many organizational skills, along with good written communication and oral communication. Sometimes as a student, talking with faculty or other students, you have to present yourself well to be respected. I’ve been able to pride myself on how I’ve communicated, and then how I’ve stayed organized and kept track of not only the budget, but all the documents that go into that. If anyone has any questions about the budget or allocations, I can go back to exactly why we made that decision. With finance, it’s huge to be able to track progress and be able to make projections about how much money we really have to spend, who we have to say no to, how do we compromise, and being transparent with students. Student Senate’s money that we are giving and allocating is for the students, and so we always try to act in their best interest.
WHAT ACHIEVEMENT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR TIME AT WARTBURG: I’d like to preface that I feel grateful for everything that’s happened. Right now, as my college career is coming to an end, there’s a bunch of amazing stuff happening. For me, being named a team captain for the baseball team was super rewarding. That’s something I’ve always wanted to be recognized as and something I’ve been working toward and it’s awesome to be able to perform and grow for the team. Of course, getting that TA position and being accepted into Iowa is a huge accomplishment that I’m proud of as well.
WHAT IMPACT DO YOU HOPE TO HAVE LEFT ON THE CAMPUS: One of the main things Senate did this year was remove certain rules like standardized funding. We found in recent years that it was hurting clubs that promote diversity, and they were limited to only a certain amount of money. We wanted to take that away so we can help those diversity groups who are a huge pillar of Wartburg be able to have these nice, big events that they get to celebrate their own traditions and bring local students to. That’s been really rewarding to leave an impact on Wartburg to try to lift up groups that promote diversity and be able to have a more equitable system. In general, I just hope to be able to lead by example, lead the right way, and show that if you do things the right way, and you work hard, good things can happen. I hope that that’s an impact that I’ve left on people, not only the baseball team, but beyond that being a happy face, making people’s day, and just being a great leader.