Inspiring Graduate: Karolyn Waldman (’25)
- Hometown: Prentice
- Degree: M.S. Career & Technical Education
After earning her marketing and business education degree from UW-Stout in May 2019, Karolyn Waldman wanted to further her education and returned to her alma mater for a master’s in career and technical education.
Waldman is a marketing and business teacher at Wausau West High School and serves as DECA & SBE (school-based enterprise) advisor, supporting students as they grow in their leadership, communication, and critical thinking skills and more.
“I love teaching at the high school level because my students are discovering their passions and beginning to choose classes that will lead them down a career path. Any time I am able to assist a student in that journey feels successful,” she said.
Waldman earned her master’s in career and technical education and crossed the commencement stage on Dec. 20 as one of 527 UW-Stout graduates.
“I hope to make an impact by inspiring passion in students and helping them grow into well-rounded individuals. I always strive to spread kindness and build experiences for students to impact others around them and in their school community,” she said.
What drew you to UW-Stout for both your bachelor’s and master’s degrees?
Growing up, I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I always thought that I would teach math or English. In high school, I took an accounting class and fell in love with the subject, which led me to take many more business classes. I really looked up to my marketing and business teacher in high school. Ultimately all of these factors led me to want to become a marketing and business teacher.
When I began looking at colleges during high school, I toured a few of the UW schools, as well as a few private colleges. When I toured UW-Stout, I knew it was the right fit. My tour guide was saying “Hello” to people all throughout the day on campus. Being from a small town in Wisconsin, I loved the idea that I could build relationships like this on campus and that my professors would know me.
I came to UW-Stout for my master’s program because I had an incredible experience at Stout for my undergraduate degree. UW-Stout was the obvious choice for a CTE degree. I was lucky enough to even have some of the same professors that I knew from previous classes. They go above and beyond. I am continuously impressed by how much they care about each and every one of their students.
How has UW-Stout prepared you to work in MBE and CTE?
I have fine-tuned much of my educational theory and learned many current CTE trends. Much of the work for my master’s degree required a lot of reflection on my role as an educator. I always value intentional reflection on my practice.
One of the assignments was to create a career tree. I had to look back at the different careers that members of my family and extended family had. This was an eye-opening experience and helped me to understand outside factors that may play a role when a student is choosing a career.
What challenges did you face in earning your degree and how did you overcome them?
One of the challenges that I faced in earning my degree was finding the time to put forth into the work. I didn’t want to lack effort in the classes that I was paying to learn from. It’s difficult to be in classes and have a full-time job at the same time. I worked through this challenge by making sure to schedule intentional time to read the material and write papers.
What are you most proud of as you finish your degree?
I’m proud of myself for pursuing and completing this degree. A master’s degree was something growing up that I never thought was possible for me, and research was never a strength of mine. I was always extremely intimidated by the idea of a thesis, and therefore always ruled out the idea of a master’s degree.
I’m grateful for the additional education, the professors that supported me along the way and my time at UW-Stout.
