Michelle Mazanec (College & Career Specialist)

Michelle Mazanec is a college and career specialist at Osseo Senior High School.

A Twin Cities native who grew up in Fridley, Mazanec’s childhood was comfortably average, a testament to her loving parents’ ability to foster a nurturing environment even though they both worked long hours in factories.

“My mom worked for Honeywell for 43 years, and my dad worked at the Ford Motor assembly plant in Saint Paul for 33 years as well,” Mazanec shares.

Collectively, the Tiedens (Mazanec’s maiden name) were able to send their daughter to college, where she studied Business Education before eventually earning a degree from Minnesota-State Mankato.

“Accounting, finance, some law classes, marketing. All different aspects of business,” Mazanec says of her curriculum.

Mazanec later became a business teacher at Osseo Senior High School (after a brief stint working in rural Minnesota), and like most educators, she soon worked toward attaining a master’s degree so she could earn more money, but after a few years of teaching, Mazanec pivoted away from the classroom and transitioned into becoming a college and career specialist.

“I am a member of the counseling department, but I’m not a licensed counselor,” she says.

“I just work with kids on after high school plans.”

But Mazanec doesn’t just assist kids with their post-high school futures.

In many ways, she serves as a trusted source of information in an area that often is devoid of valuable nuance that can leave impressionable students flummoxed over their career paths.

“It’s really important that students understand that, while college can be a great way for someone to build a future, not everyone needs to go to college,” Mazanec says of her role, expressing a sentiment that is arguably antithetical to the mainstream narrative too often foisted upon young students.

“There is this misconception that in order to make enough money to pay your bills, you need to get some form of education after high school. That’s true to an extent, but that doesn’t mean you need to go to a traditional college.”

Unfortunately, many high school students aren’t aware of the options they have once they receive their diploma.

For example, most students have no idea that they can go to trade school and immediately earn a solid paycheck, or that they can enlist in the military and pursue careers outside of combat, which in turn is what makes the work that Mazanec does so revered by current and past students, and so crucial to the society writ large.

Whereas some guidance counselors solely focus on the importance of going to a traditional four-year institution, Mazanec is more practical, preferring to take a consultative approach to her work with students as opposed to following the conventional ideology that encourages all students to enroll in college.  

“I need to know what a student is thinking about for a job before we even dive into the idea of college,” says Mazanec, who again emphasizes that going on to higher education is far from the only path young people can take to build a foundation for themselves and their future families.

“My goal is to dispel the myth that college is the only route to go. You don’t need a four-year degree for lots of different careers, plus, not every college has every major, and these are just some of the nuances that often don’t get explored when we simply talk about college as a generic term.”

For context, Mazanec is not anti-college.  

Rather, she simply wants to acknowledge the reality of life after high school and set her students up for sustained success.

“I want you to be happy, and I want you to be able to pay your bills,” is a refrain commonly heard during one of Mazanec’s presentations.   

“However that is meant to happen for you, that’s what I want to help facilitate.”

Still, the reality is that Mazanec, despite her stellar reputation, is only one person, and in a school with an enrollment of around 2,300 kids, she doesn’t have the time to counsel each student on an individual level to determine if college is right for them.

“That’s the struggle,” Mazanec deadpans.

“I have to do things in groups as much as I possibly can. It’s obviously not as intimate as a one-on-one consultation, but if my presentations give students a general baseline that they can begin to work off, then from there I can attempt to fill in the gaps where there might be some uncertainty or confusion.”

Still, sometimes it isn’t until late in a student’s senior year that Mazanec is able to show students wavering about their future just what going to college entails.

“There are a lot of students who go to college and don’t finish college, but that doesn’t mean that those student loans go away,” Mazanec says.

“And just because you get into college doesn’t mean you finish, and just because you finish, that doesn’t guarantee you a job, and so for the students who aren’t fully committed to going on to community college or university, and are just doing so because they think it’s the smart thing to do, I want to make sure they know exactly what they’re getting into before they invest ample time and money into something they may not even need.”

Again, if it seems as if Mazanec is discouraging students from attending college, that’s not the case.

As a former college graduate with a specialized degree, Mazanec will always be employable, hence she understands the inherent value of a degree.

At the same time, when she was first attending university, the price tag was drastically less than it is today, meaning the need for students now to be more prudent and intentional with their dollars is even more critical.

“My husband’s student loan payment when we got married was $176 per month,” Mazanec contextualizes.  

“But students today are graduating with figures in excess of $100,000 in debt, and their payments are $1,200 per month. And if they didn’t choose a degree pathway that’s going to pay them enough money as they’re starting to make those payments, then that’s a real problem, and that’s why so many people are living in their parents’ basements right now.”

There will be some who condemn Mazanec’s approach of exploring all the different post-high school options, who despite an overwhelming amount of evidence that traditional college can be financially crippling to the wrong students, still maintain that traditional university is the most optimal way to achieve future success.  

For her part, Mazanec is not looking to engage with those who disagree with her.

Not because she doesn’t wholeheartedly believe in her multi-dimensional approach, but because the negative aspects of her job aren’t enough to override the genuine love and appreciation she has for a career that has enriched her life in a variety of ways.

“I get to build meaningful relationships with students who go on to do amazing things,” Mazanec says, the sincerity of her words evident as two-plus decades of work suddenly feel even more impactful.  

“I’ll use you as an example, Quentin: you are doing what you love, which is being a writer and using your platform to elevate other people.”

Adds Mazanec:

“I have also seen a lot of students go to college and become doctors and lawyers, and for me to play even a very small role in that, that makes me feel fulfilled, but it’s also about being able to open doors for students and show them a career path that they otherwise never would have known existed.”

Looking ahead, Mazanec will likely remain in her current role at Osseo Senior High School.

“It would be difficult for me to leave Osseo because I’ve been here for 26 years,” Mazanec says.

“And it would be hard for me to walk away from being a resource for students who otherwise would have to spend money to figure out what they want out of life.” QS

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