Monday, January 13, 2025
CVTC welcomes people looking for change
Andrew Thayer, 32, isn’t quite ready to give up learning. Although he has an associate degree in welding and one in IT-Software Development, both from Chippewa Valley Technical College, he decided to get his associate degree in IT-Network Specialist from CVTC as well, which will set him up for a great career.
Andrew Thayer is following in Shelley Lindner’s footsteps. They don't know each other, but they both went to Chippewa Valley Technical College to find their passion after already having established careers.
It took Lindner, 38, of rural Eau Claire, a few years to figure out what she really wanted to do as a career, and going back to school was part of the process.
“When I was growing up, I was thinking about being a teacher or a vet to help and assist people and work with animals or teach someone a new skill,” Lindner said.
But when she went to college and began her teaching career, it wasn’t what she expected.
“I guess I had this happy idea that we would just go play together, we’d have gym, we’d be teaching them stuff and everything would be great,” she said. “Then when you get there you realize sometimes you have to bring down the hammer. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. I didn’t want to be fighting kids to get them to learn.”
Lindner has schooling in education and adventure recreation, but by chance she ended up working for the UW-Eau Claire theater program teaching college students how to build sets.
“It ended up coming full circle,” she said. “I came back to teaching, and I was pretty excited about that, but that position was just a yearly renewal position. It was never meant to be long term.”
She started looking at other career options, and architecture popped up on the list. Lindner was on a time crunch. She had just had her second child and day care bills were around the corner.
“I knew I was in a decent amount of trouble if I couldn’t find something quickly,” she said. “CVTC programs, being a little shorter – the one- and two-year programs – was exactly what I was looking for to get my career started.”
As Lindner was working her way through the Architecture Structural Design program, she attended a career fair and felt like she found her path. She spoke with Summit Fire Protection, and months later she was designing sprinkler systems in buildings for them.
“That’s been one of the things that I find amazing about CVTC, is that they are helping to push us to find the jobs in the area or even beyond, and we leave with an occupation.”
Thayer, the 32-year-old Altoona man, is following closely behind Lindner in quest to find a career that hits the mark.
His path has taken twists and turns, and he hasn’t blinked an eye. He said he’s lucky to have CVTC in his backyard, and he has taken advantage of the educational opportunities.
He started the IT-Network Specialist program at CVTC but he said the program wasn’t a good fit. He left and worked in customer service for a while. A career fair at CVTC drew him back in, when he landed on welding.
“I still remember the booth displaying information on the Welding program. They were showcasing the work of current program students, gorgeous weldments, videos of nimble robots programmed by the students perfectly performing their tasks … I was sold.
“It was new, exciting and challenging.”
Thayer graduated from the Welding and Metal Fabrication programs with honors. But the entire time he was going to school for welding, he was working as a butcher. He was asked a few times to quit school and join the team full-time. After graduation, he obliged and worked in the meat industry for four years.
After more time and consideration, he couldn’t see himself working in welding or the meat industry until retirement, he said.
Throughout his years of learning and working, Thayer realized he enjoyed technology and the programming of welding robots – something he was able to study during his previous stints at college.
He turned his attention back to CVTC, but this time in the IT-Software Development program. He graduated from that program in December 2023 and is continuing with the IT Networking Specialist program. He also works for the CVTC IT Helpdesk. Thayer expects to graduate from the networking specialist program in 2025.
His future career is up in the air, but with two IT degrees and a degree in welding, he’s setting himself up for success no matter where he goes.
“I think the main takeaway is that CVTC prepares you for a job – you're really ready to go after two years,” he said. “A good school should support students no matter their age or previous college education. I’m glad I found one that I can trust and rely on to help me achieve the goals I’ve set for myself.”
