From Farm Bureau to First Baptist in Dallas, BVU Internships Fed Senior’s Passions

Noah Bardwell's passion for technology showed through in his internship experiences, one as a software engineer, the other, an audio producer. These internships both offered experiential learning for the computer science major.

Noah Bardwell’s internship experiences serve as testimonials for the liberal arts experience. He worked in software engineering at Farm Bureau in West Des Moines for one internship. For the other, he handled audio production at First Baptist Church in downtown Dallas, Texas.

“It was a huge church in Dallas, with an orchestra and backup singers,” Bardwell says. “They even had indoor fireworks for the July Fourth service.”

Both internships served primary interest for a Buena Vista University computer science major who once majored in music production and digital media.

“I was involved in soccer, played bass in the pep band, played in the rock ensemble group and sang in the choir.”

Noah Bardwell

“I could explore many interests at BVU,” says Bardwell, a Van Meter native who transferred as a sophomore to play soccer and study music production at BVU. He switched to a computer science major as a junior, but didn’t leave his passion for music and media behind.

“I was involved in soccer (team captain), played bass in the pep band, played in the rock ensemble group and sang in the choir,” says Bardwell. “I was also an RA.”

Bardwell, who has accepted a job as a software engineer at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, also got to play soccer with his younger brother, Sam, a BVU freshman.

“I’m in Des Moines now and working to finish classes even though it’s harder to stay motivated when you’re not on campus,” Bardwell says. “I would say that my professors have been fantastic in the transition to online this semester.”

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