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For Willem Kimm, Dordt was always familiar—but not always the plan.

Both of his parents attended Dordt, and for much of his life, that made him hesitant to follow in their footsteps.

“I was like, I’m not going to go there—I don’t want to just do what everyone expects,” he says.

That changed after a campus visit.

“I loved it,” he says. “The community, the people, the faith—it all stood out right away.”

Kimm enrolled as an agriculture business major and later added a plant science emphasis and a theology minor—an academic combination that reflects both his background and his future plans. After graduation, he intends to return to his family’s potato farm in Manhattan, Montana.

“Farmers have to be versatile,” he says. “You need to understand business and be personable, but you also need to be able to walk into a field and diagnose what’s going on with a plant.”

That versatility pushed him academically, particularly as he moved into more science-heavy coursework.

“Switching into classes like organic chemistry after mostly business and theology was a challenge,” he says. “But I ended up really enjoying it.”

Outside the classroom, Kimm embraced a wide range of opportunities—including writing for the Diamond, participating in Defender Capital Management, playing basketball, taking part in Bible studies, leading in Student Government, and venturing abroad for a .

“I wanted to try as many things as I could,” he says. “There are so many opportunities here if you’re willing to step into them.”

Through those experiences, one theme stood out.

“Community,” he says. “It may sound cliché, but that’s been the biggest part of my Dordt experience.”

He has also been influenced by the way Dordt’s Christian worldview is woven into every part of campus life.

“I knew Dordt was a Christian university, but I didn’t realize how central that perspective is across everything—from the classroom to student government to athletics,” he says.

That framework has influenced how he thinks about both agriculture and business.

“You start asking different kinds of questions,” he says. “Not just what’s the most efficient or profitable, but what’s good for people, what’s good for creation, and how those things all fit together.”

That way of thinking has had a hand in how he approaches even practical decisions—like how to run a farm or structure a business.

“I want to think about how to run a good business, but also how to support my community, my church, and my family,” he says. “It’s about balancing all of those things well.”

His time at Dordt has also grown his faith. Through studying theology and participating in campus life, he has come to value thinking deeply about faith as well as practicing it daily.

“Things like chapel, prayer, and being part of a church community have become more central for me,” he says.

“I don’t think Dordt instantly transforms people, but it gives you the tools to keep course-correcting throughout your life—to keep asking how to live out your faith in whatever you’re doing,” he adds.