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You can tell its graduation at Michigan Tech, when area hotels are booked solid, and Husky pride fills the Student Development Complex on a Saturday morning. Parents, siblings, and loved ones filled two levels of bleachers in the Wood gym, while 325 eager graduates awaited that walk across the stage to feel what it’s like to have a college degree.
This year’s commencement address was delivered by University Board Chairman Terry Woychowski, who will conclude his eight year term at the year’s end.
The ceremony also featured graduating student speaker Rose Turner, who is using that degree to begin a career in the field of energy. “Graduation is marking the end of my journey at Tech, but it’s also marking the beginning of my journey into a career in renewable energy,” said Turner.
Earlier this year, Rose and her housemates gave a tour of MTU’s sustainability house that uses green technology, aquaponic gardening, and various methods of recycling, in an attempt to reduce their overall carbon footprint. Turner said, “I’ll be working with Westwood Professional Services. They are the nation’s largest renewable energy company. I’ll be designing multi megawatt solar and wind farms on a daily basis.”
Rose will be using some of her experiences with solar energy from the sustainability project at her new position. “The sustainability house has really given me a lot of experience in the renewable energy field, specifically because we have our own solar array. It’s really given me a great introduction to this career path and I’m excited to apply everything I’ve learned at the house to my future job,” she said.
The graduation ceremony gives start to exam week for the university which will lead into winter break at the end of the week. Turner said, “I’m really sad to leave a lot of the organizations that I’m involved in, but I’m really happy to be done with exams, lab reports, and home work. I need a break from that for sure.”
