The Wartburg community is incredibly supportive
NAME: Weston Krug
CLASS YEAR: 2020
HOMETOWN: Dysart, Iowa
MAJOR: Music education
INVOLVEMENT ON CAMPUS: Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Wartburg Community Symphony, Wartubium, Iowa Bandmaster’s Association, National Association for Music Education, Phi Eta Sigma, WRSL consultant, music office work study, library maintenance
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE WARTBURG: I chose Wartburg because I felt like an individual and had professors who genuinely cared about my education and my well-being. Wartburg and Waverly felt and still feels like a second home to me. I feel I have been able to learn and grow in a community that cares about me.
HOW DID YOU DECIDE ON YOUR MAJOR: I decided on music education initially because of my personal experiences with band in high school. Band was the activity that helped me get out of my shell, meet lots of great friends, and play rewarding music in lots of unique places. As I studied music education more at Wartburg, I began to realize I was in music education to use music as a way to reach and teach students at a deeper level to be kind, respectful, and to accept ourselves as we are.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER GRADUATION: I will be teaching grades 5-6 band and will be the at-risk coordinator in the Nashua-Plainfield School District.
HOW DID WARTBURG PREPARE YOU FOR YOUR NEXT STEP: Wartburg helped me to understand the importance of being able to learn from mistakes. The Wartburg community is so incredibly supportive, and I was able to grow in an environment that allowed me to forge my own path with great support to help me when I made mistakes. Because of this, I feel abundantly well equipped to face any challenge I may encounter in my professional career.
WHAT ARE SOME VALUABLE LESSONS AND EXPERIENCES YOU HAD THROUGH FIELD EXPERIENCES: Working with students of all kinds gave me a new perspective on the efficacy of teaching, as many of the students that I worked with only really had a home at school. Working with students always reinvigorated my drive to become a teacher.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM YOUR TIME STUDENT TEACHING: I learned an incredible amount about the importance of relating to students and using music to teach them beyond the content. I was able to put everything I had learned into practice, and these things are the important things I learned about the application of my knowledge: relating to students and using music to teach skills beyond the content.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CLASS: My favorite classes were my two conducting classes with Dr. Munterfering and Dr. Hancock. These classes taught me what I was most excited to improve and learn more about: conducting! Advanced conducting also included some fantastic discussions about band teaching in general. These classes pushed me to work hard, but they were certainly my favorite classes.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST DIFFICULT CLASS: Probably Educational Psychology with Dr. Snyder. It was also one of my favorite classes, but it pushed me to understand why we teach and how to most effectively teach our content. There are so many factors that can affect instruction and how we as teachers can best reach students, and this class pushed me to know them all like the back of my hand.
WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU NEVER IMAGINED YOU WOULD DO BEFORE COMING TO WARTBURG: I never imagined I would be able to confidently stand in front of a group of 60 students and lead a rehearsal on music for a full hour without feeling nervous or unsure, but during my student teaching, I was able to do just that every day with great success.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WARTBURG MEMORY: All of my memories traveling with Wind Ensemble on tour have been absolutely amazing, but nothing could possibly beat playing music with Wind Ensemble in Japan. Meeting Japanese people, staying in their homes and sharing wonderful music with them are my happiest memories from Wartburg.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS: At many times in my Wartburg experience, I found myself in challenging times. I would advise current students to embrace these hard times and find your inner strength to push through. No matter how hard times are, there should always be a goal in sight. Take time for yourself and to remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. That, and always live with kindness; it costs you nothing to be kind.
WHY IS WARTBURG WORTH IT: Wartburg gave me a chance to explore who I am as a person, both vocationally and at a deeper level. I learned about myself in so many ways in an environment where I was surrounded by people who loved me and whom I loved. Wartburg became and will always be a home away from home, in the feeling of being campus, in the people that I met along the way, and in my heart.