Getting Outside His Comfort Zone
During his first semester at Dordt, Isaiah deRegt wasn’t sure what to major in. After taking a course on the principles of management, though, he decided that a business major was for him.
“This dynamic class focusing on leadership theories and servant leadership spurred me on to add a management and marketing emphasis,” he says. “I knew that a business major would be practical in the sense that I would be able to use what gifts I knew of at that point.”
By his junior year, he became even more interested in investments and financial planning.
“Since then, I have focused my studies on this area, getting involved in Defender Capital Management while maintaining my original course of study.”
He is the vice president of Defender Capital Management and spent the summer as well as a fall semester interning at a local investment firm.
“These opportunities at and around Dordt have stretched me and encouraged my development as a continual learner in the ever-changing world of personal finance and macroeconomics,” says Isaiah. “My career goal for the next few years is to be a trusted and reliable partner to families who want to start to save for their future. I want to ease the burden of finances and educate them to steward their resources prudently.”
When Isaiah first came to Dordt, he knew he would need to get out of his comfort zone to make new friends. He mustered up all his courage to sit with students he didn’t know at the Commons for every meal for the first two months.
“That ignited an epic experience at Dordt,” he says. “I’m so thankful that the Holy Spirit gave me the courage to break out of where I normally would have been comfortable. I met students at the Commons tables that I would not have met otherwise and created lasting relationships that I’m still thankful for today.”
Isaiah is especially grateful for his time in choir while at Dordt. Not only was he able to develop his singing skills, he also had a chance to participate in the Concert Choir tour to Austria and the Czech Republic in May 2022.
“I had the chance to sing repertoire that was written by believers half a millennium ago, not to mention singing these texts in the European cathedrals they were written for,” he says. “I’m so grateful for this experience that Dordt provides students in marveling at the beauty of our creator and his unique and perfect care for his children – what a beautiful expression of praise and adoration!”
His Dordt experience also helped him to be shaped “toward a kingdom mindset.” He and his wife, Sarah, may not know exactly where they’re headed, but they know that they will walk faithfully in whatever path they are called to.
