A Path Less Traveled
Posted May 4, 2016 in "Staff"
For
Mike Vaudreuil, lifelong learning provides a new start
It
was 2007, a burdensome time for many.
Mike
Vaudreuil had lost his house, his once-prospering business–and,
worst of all, his hope. He was beaten down. He needed something,
anything, to survive not only economically, but mentally.
So
the Worcester native took a temp job as a custodian at WPI.
Eight
years later, on May 14, he’s set to walk the stage in his cap and
gown at the university’s 148th commencement ceremony. The
54-year-old will collect his bachelor’s degree in mechanical
engineering.
His
is a story of resilience.
“It’s
taken everything I had, and a lot of things I never knew I had,”
says Vaudreuil. “I’m so ready for the next chapter.”
Setbacks?
You have no idea.
Vaudreuil,
who’s spent his life in and around Worcester, initially studied at
Wentworth Institute of Technology after he graduated from high school
“many, many years ago,” as he described it. He earned an
associate’s degree in aeronautical technology.
But
by the time he graduated, the industry was going through a recession,
following the 1978 signing by Jimmy Carter of the Airline
Deregulation Act. So to get himself through, he took a job with a
friend’s construction company.
He
thought it would be temporary. But with the housing boom,
construction prospered, and, naturally, he stuck with it. For the
next two-and-a-half decades, he was a plasterer by trade, eventually
running his own business.
And
then: The Great Recession. Within six months, he was forced to shut
down his business. “It dumped me out of the economy pretty
quickly,” he says, much as he and his wife, Joyce, tried to fight
it, losing their savings and their home in the process.
It
was a traumatic time; he was jaded and disillusioned. “I worked
hard and I did a good job, and I thought that was what the recipe was
to be successful,” says Vaudreuil. “But it wasn’t.”
So
he took the temp job at WPI, which soon became full-time. As an
employee, he had the ability to take tuition-waived classes; on a
whim, he signed up for some psychology courses, essentially as a
“constructive way to spent time, occupy my mind,” he explains.
“I
had no notion of getting a degree,” he says.
After
a few courses, though, he realized that maybe there was something
there for him–until he went to a job fair and came to the
conclusion that the post-college job prospects in psychology weren’t
all that promising. Another dead-end. He wasn’t going to let that
happen again.
A
NATURAL FIT
So
he shifted his focus to mechanical engineering. It was a natural fit,
because he was always a “hands-on tinkering kind of guy,” and
mechanical engineering also has much broader implications in
industry.
Still,
at first, he wasn’t sure if he could do it. He was apprehensive; he
was in his late 40s, he’d been working in construction most of his
career. “I was questioning whether I had the aptitude to pursue
it,” he says.
But
after a few classes, he says, his confidence grew. “I realized,
‘I can do
this.’”
And
he did. He took more classes, and also enrolled in summer
sessions (all the while working full-time second shift as a
custodian, and also doing part-time work in plastering.) It was
hectic, for sure, but things finally started to fall into place.
NON
TRADITIONAL STUDENT
There
were challenges, of course—No. 1 being time. Group work was
especially hard, because he didn’t have a lot of leeway. He did see
other “non-traditional” students along the way, although he quips
that not many were at “my advanced age—my advanced experience.”
However,
he notes, “I was extremely impressed by my fellow students—at no
time was I made to feel like an outsider, like I didn’t belong. I
can’t say enough about the student body here—they’re impressive
young people. And the faculty, as well, treated me like any student,
challenged me like the rest of the students, motivated me, inspired
me.”
MAJOR
QUALIFYING PROJECT
That
included associate professor Ali Rangwala, with whom Vaudreuil did
his Major Qualifying Project, (creating a reusable dust fuel
cartridge). The project was “successful for the most part,” says
Vaudreuil, who (if he can find the time, that is) would like to work
on a second-generation prototype this summer.
But
he particularly credits his wife, Joyce, with getting him through;
for a while, they were all each other had.
“She
has been my cheerleader, my greatest counsel, my shoulder to cry
on—she’s also given me the kick in the pants I’ve needed at
times,” he says. “She’s been everything I needed when I’ve
needed it. Graduation will be a victory for both of us.”
As
for the future? Vaudreuil says he is up for anything, describing
himself as creative and hands-on–particularly when it comes to
prototype building–and “very at home” in machine shops and
manufacturing facilities.
“I’m
open to many different opportunities,” he says. “I’m extremely
motivated. I really want to hit the ground running. I want to make up
for lost time.”
– BY
TARYN PLUMB
