YIGIT KACMAZ, TRUMPET NEWS AND CULTURE & DIVERSITY EDITOR
Wartburg College has lead a great change and impact in the Cedar Valley area and in the world and works as a channel to connect Cedar Valley with the rest of the world. December 2021 graduate, Namleng Sina is a great example for this change, impact and connection.
Sina was an international student at Wartburg from Cambodia. She graduated with a degree in economics and business administration with a minor in leadership. After her graduation, she moved to San Francisco to visit her host family and to find a job.
“The weather was nice, and my host family was very kind and welcoming,” Sina said. “I am used to being independent and all of a sudden I live with a host family. They were very welcoming but because of me moving in and not having more to contribute was overwhelming for me.”
After moving all the way to southwest, she found her luck in employment in Waverly.
“Looking for jobs was stressful,” Sina said. “I just graduated from college, and it is not real-life experience.”
Sina did an internship with the local non-profit organization Self-Help International in Fall Term of 2021 as a requirement for her degree. Her internship’s connections with the other local businesses helped Sina land a position in an independent employee benefit consultation firm, Advantage Administrators. She started working as the “Flex Administrator” in the firm on Feb. 21st. A flex administrator helps customers plan to set aside dollars each year from their paycheck to pay for qualified health and dependent care expenses. The firm was founded by Rodney C. Drenkow in 1987 in Waverly.
“It’s a family-owned company and everybody knows each other, Sina said. “I enjoy our lunchtime, me, my manager and my co-worker talk about life and learn about each other. It is more than just work.”
Sina is glad to be back and start a new chapter in Waverly. She is currently living in a two-room apartment in town and looking for a roommate.
“I didn’t miss the cold weather, but I missed the freshness of the air,” Sina said. “I missed having my own room and I missed having friends around.”
Before coming to the U.S., Sina completed her high school education at United World Colleges Southeast Asia in Singapore.
Knight Wire 
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