MPS Students Explore Career Options at MATC Event

Seeing what’s out there is really good. It’s never too early to start thinking about what you want to do.

Nicole Alvarado settled into the seat of the big rig, buckled her seat belt and clenched the steering wheel.

She turned the key and the semitruck surged to life. She shifted into drive and slowly stepped on the gas. The truck glided into traffic and picked up speed, cruising past one car, then another, and then through an intersection.

Suddenly a school bus appeared. Alvarado slammed on the brakes, but she was a tad too late.

The truck’s front windshield loudly splintered and cracked. 

“COLLISION!!!” flashed on the screen of the trucking simulator, one of five used by Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Truck Driving program at the college’s Oak Creek Campus.

Alvarado, a sophomore at Milwaukee Public Schools’ Ronald Reagan High School, and her friends squealed with laughter. Thanks to the simulator, they got to see what it takes to be a professional truck driver.

“Well,” Alvarado said with a laugh. “Maybe this isn’t for me.” 

Alvarado was one of nearly 1,500 sophomores from 20 MPS high schools who got information about the careers and educational opportunities available at MATC at “Explore Your Future,” a day-long event held Thursday, March 20.

The event is part of the M³ (pronounced M-cubed) initiative, an innovative collaboration among MATC, MPS, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Its goals include ensuring student success, meeting the needs of the region’s business and industry, and improving the well-being of Wisconsin residents, their families and communities. In December, 9th-grade students from MPS visited University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campuses as part of the partnership. 

See more photos from the event

The students toured classrooms and labs at the Downtown Milwaukee, Mequon, Oak Creek and West Allis campuses, and heard instructors discuss the college’s programs. 

At the Oak Creek Campus, Alvarado and others tried out the trucking simulators while instructor Dan Zdrojewski explained the benefits of truck driving as a career. “We need drivers,” he said.  

Along with the simulators, the college’s Truck Driving program is using a newly paved and configured road course in front of the Oak Creek Campus. 

In the Welding program lab at Oak Creek, students used computer simulators to weld a pipe and design metal flowers. 

“Seeing what’s out there is really good,” said Yaretzi Carresco, another sophomore from Ronald Reagan. “It’s never too early to start thinking about what you want to do.”

At the Downtown Milwaukee Campus, students from Golda Meir and Hamilton high schools saw robotics in action at the college’s Electronics Technology Lab. In the Culinary Arts classroom, students watched instructor Paul Carrier whip up pancakes, chicken tenders, french fries and spicy rice. 

“The good thing about culinary classes is that you’re always going to get fed,” Carrier told a group of students. “You’ll never go hungry.”

In the Electricity program lab, students stripped electric wires and connected them to an outlet. In the Al Hurvis/PEAK Transportation Center, students used a pneumatic wrench to remove the lug nuts on the college’s PEAK high-performance race car. They also heard about in-demand automotive careers that can pay up to $50 an hour.

“In our auto classes, you will do some book work, but you will do a lot of hands-on learning because that’s when you really learn,” said Scott Fisler, an automotive maintenance instructor. “You can read all about how to swim, but if you get thrown into the water, will you be able to do it right away?”

In one of the machining labs, instructor Patrick Hanson explained the value of learning how to operate a computer numerical control (CNC) machine that shapes metal and other materials into components. “Anyone can use these machines to make junk,” he said. “But at MATC, you will learn how they can make good parts.”

These tours give students early exposure to the college’s 180 programs taught in state-of-the-art facilities where students get hands-on instruction, and that empowers them to make informed decisions about their future, said Nutan Amrute, MATC’s interim director of student career, employment and transfer. M3 held a similar event last year.

Ronald Reagan student Naecie Ramirez was almost overwhelmed by the amount of information she received during the day. She had thought about being a nurse, but now, after seeing other jobs and careers, she’s not so sure.

“This gave me a whole lot to think about,” she said. “But having choices is a good thing.”

About MATC: Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.