By Katie Hirv ’22
Exploring and discerning vocation is a part of the Wartburg journey for each student. For Grant Johnson ’21 and Maecie Wright ’22, their Winter Term at Wartburg West in Denver, Colo., has allowed them to discover more about their passions and learn more about themselves.
“At first, I heard about it through people talking on campus. Grant told me he was going, so I finally looked into it and thought I could get some good experiences from it,” Wright said.
“My mom went to Wartburg and said this was a program she really wished she would have done. I started looking into it and wanted to know what it was like living in a city for an extended amount of time. That’s what inspired me to sign up,” Johnson said.
Johnson, a business administration major, and Wright, a public health major, have been kept busy with an internship (or two) and a light class load that affords them the time to enjoy their surroundings.
“The class you take while you’re at Wartburg West is an interdisciplinary course called ‘The Metropolis.’ Right now, we’re mainly talking about sustainability and things like that. I’m also taking my second religion course and doing two internships, one at Denver Health and one at Metro Caring. It’s a pretty full schedule, but I’m pretty excited to get the whole experience out here,” Wright said.
At Denver Health, Wright has the opportunity to observe doctors and nurses at one of the city’s top hospitals. As an intern at Metro Caring, one of Colorado’s leading anti-hunger organizations, Wright assists with packaging food for distribution.
“The boxes and bags are handed out to people who either drive- or walk-up to the building. Denver has an enormous homeless population, so we fill the boxes with things like granola bars, premade sandwiches, anything that’s able to be made or eaten without a kitchen. The largest family they have on file is 15 people in one house,” Wright said. “Metro Caring wants to start solving the poverty situation with nutritious food.”
Johnson’s internship placed him alongside 2011 Wartburg alum Heath Rost, CEO of Personable Media, a company that specializes in the creation and maintenance of websites and custom software solutions.
“He’s teaching me how to use WordPress, which is how you get into the back end of a website and make changes. So far, I’m building my own blog website completely from scratch, which I’ve never done before. Looking to the future, one of the projects I have coming up is an entire marketing campaign that I’ll be in charge of running,” Johnson said.
Although Johnson and Wright have only been at Wartburg West for a few weeks, they’ve both already had valuable experiences and learned more about their future career goals.
“I’m not sure about what I want to do with public health, but I know with Metro Caring being more community-based, I feel like having these two internships will give me a better idea of what I want to do when I graduate,” Wright said. “Just being at Metro Caring these first few weeks, I know I want to work in the community. It helped me think of what I want to do and that I’d like to live in a city in the future.”
“I knew going into this that user experience and market research was the field I wanted to go into. This internship has opened me up to computer information systems a lot more. I’m debating going back to Wartburg for a fifth year and doing something with that,” Johnson said.
Students participating in the Wartburg West program undergo COVID-19 tests upon arrival, with additional tests done every two weeks to ensure student safety. Additionally, according to public orders regarding COVID-19 by the city of Denver, “… members of the public, when they need to interact with others outside the home, and especially in settings where many people are present, should cover the mouth and nose to prevent inadvertently spreading COVID-19.”
“It was definitely a culture shock going from a small town to a huge city. It’s eye-opening to see just how different other parts of the country are. These are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities you’ll get. It’s a great program to participate in,” Wright said.
“The best way to learn is to get out of your comfort zone. As I go along, I’m getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. If you’re from a small town like I am, this lets you learn how to live in a city. It’s important to know whether or not that’s something you want,” Johnson said.
Learn more about Wartburg West at https://www.wartburg.edu/west/. Applications for the 2021 Fall and 2022 Winter Term programs are due Monday, March 1.
