Fall 2003 - Northwestern College

S t u d e n p tro f i l eN o r t h w e s t e r n C l a s s i cSetting His SightsPolitical science major practices what he’s learn e dby Anita Ciru l i sHis parentsalways thoughthe would be am i n i s t e r, but inhigh school,Mick Sniederd i s c o v e r e danother calling:p o l i t i c s .N o w, just turned 20, the Nort h w e s t e rns o p h o m o re is running for Orange City’s CityCouncil this fall.Holding office is a logical next step for ayoung man who served as a page in the IowaState Senate and spent this past summerworking as an intern for Iowa Congre s s m a nSteve King in Washington, D.C.“ H e ’s pretty atypical in that he really knewf rom the start exactly what he wanted,” saysD r. Jeff Va n D e r We rff, a political science professor who has hadSnieder in class. “Mick is pretty ambitious. He has his sightsset on cutting his teeth on local politics, and he’s not waiting.”“I really love politics,” admits Snieder. “I don’t think youcan ever learn as much in a classroom as you do seeing thingshappen right in front of you and actually doing the worky o u r s e l f . ”▼“ H e s ’ very much the conservative, but he’s also re s p e c t f u lof other perspectives. He’s not afraid to say what hebelieves, yet he’s thinking about the alternative. I thinkt h a t s ’ what makes him a good student. He’s not just alwaysunthinkingly parroting the party line.”▲Mick Snieder, right, with Congressman Steve King in front of the Capitol.In that sense, his summer internship was the perf e c tl e a rning experience. “Working in government, I can see howthe legislative process works, how a bill becomes law,” saysthe political science major. “It’s much more detailed than the12-step textbook example.”It was Snieder’s involvement in politics that led him toN o rt h w e s t e rn. Serving as a page his final semester of highschool, he found himself admiring King’s views and workethic, and volunteered to help him run for Iowa’s fifth districtseat in the House of Representatives. By attending NWC,Snieder was able to continue working on King’s campaignduring the summer and fall.King, likewise, was impressed by Snieder. “There ’s a cro pof about 30 pages in the state Senate,” King says, “and out ofthose 30, you can pick one to three that rise to the top in thefirst two weeks. You see it in their eyes, in the spring in theirstep. You see it in what they’re paying attention to. Mick wasone of those.”During the campaign, Snieder stepped to the stage in hishometown of Orange City and introduced King at a communityforum. The politician noticed Snieder’s poise and selfconfidence,so when the Nort h w e s t e rn student applied for an1 6 ▲ F a l l 2 0 0 3