Jay Czerniak featured speaker at Michigan Tech. commencement ceremony
An electrical engineer whose mastery of business skills supercharged his career and a graduating civil engineer on his way to an MBA were featured speakers at Michigan Technological University’s 2021 Midyear Commencement.
The ceremony, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the Student Development Complex Varsity Gymnasium, is the moment nearly 500 Huskies have been waiting for as recipients of hard-earned bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees. They’ll be addressed by student speaker Jay Czerniak, a civil engineering major from Medford, Wisconsin, who graduates with a minor in philosophy and ethics.
Building a Bright Future — and Ice Cathedrals Czerniak’s Michigan Tech story is built on a foundation of family and faith. He found a second family at Tech as a member of St. Albert the Great University Parish, known for its close-knit, welcoming community and its steadfast and stellar MTU Winter Carnival participation through the years — including the relatively new tradition of building an ice cathedral for outdoor services on Carnival weekend.
“I will be forever grateful to St. Al’s and for all those who have helped me grow not only as a professional but as a human being during my time at Tech,” said Czerniak, whose time at MTU isn’t over. He returns to campus in spring semester 2022 to pursue a master’s in business administration (MBA). In June, he plans to return to Wisconsin to start his career as a project manager with Miron Construction, where he previously interned.
“I hear often that faith is lost in college but at Michigan Tech, with the mystery of science and wonders of a gorgeous natural world, there is ample opportunity to grow and mature in one’s faith.”
Jay Czerniak, Midyear Commencement Student Speaker “Michigan Tech was my dream school,” said Czerniak, who learned about Tech from introductory engineering courses at his high school offered through Project Lead the Way. “It topped the list for schools in the Midwest. My love for snow, the outdoors and a desire for a small-town atmosphere made Tech the perfect place for me. Picking a major was also easy. My grandfather operated his own small excavating company. From a young age he helped expose me to the world of construction. I was instantly hooked. Civil engineering is the perfect major to exercise my passion for construction and design as well as my desire to engineer and problem solve.”
This is not Czerniak’s first time speaking to a crowd of new graduates. The 2017 Medford Area Senior High School graduate was also one of the speakers at his high school commencement program.
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