Inspiring Graduate: Luke Bousley (’24)
- Hometown: Sturgeon Bay
- Degree: B.S. Technology Education
Luke Bousley decided to attend UW-Stout for its applied learning approach as Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University.
“I liked the hands-on learning and how there were many opportunities for labs and other work-based experiences. The moment I stepped on campus, it felt like home, and I knew that I would enjoy UW-Stout,” he said.
“The UW-Stout experience has changed me in many ways. As a future technology education educator, I felt that the polytechnic approach helped me solidify that I want to be a teacher,” he added.
Bousley graduated early and earned his bachelor’s in technology education on Dec. 14, along with 510 UW-Stout graduates.
He is pursuing a technology education teaching position in the Midwest.
How well has UW-Stout prepared you to work in your field?
The polytechnic approach has helped prepare me for my field. My favorite class experience at Stout was Engineering Technology 422 – Research and Development. It allowed me to develop and explore ideas that I found interesting and turn them into research and development projects.
During my freshman year, I was in the classroom observing and practicing a lesson at Elk Mound High School. I learned more from this hands-on experience than I would have in a classroom talking about it.
I feel that this approach to learning really helped me get more out of the UW-Stout experience because it pushed me outside my comfort zone and helped me grow both personally and professionally.
The professors helped me develop different ways of thinking through problems and encouraged me to think creatively while utilizing the technology available at Stout.
During my final semester, I completed my student teaching at Cardinal Manufacturing, a student-run business in Eleva Strum School District. This experience helped me solidify that I really enjoy working with students in the technology education field.
For this placement, I was in charge of teaching a variety of woods and metals classes that pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped prepare me for having my own classroom.
What stands out about your UW-Stout experience?
The quality of the professors, labs and the field experience opportunities stand out. The professors have been exceptionally meaningful in helping me figure out which opportunities I should pursue while at UW-Stout.
The labs are exceptional. The Research & Development Prototyping Lab is where I spent most of my time. This lab helped me explore many different projects, including designing and building canoe paddles, developing microelectronic machines and CNC programming to produce parts.
The field experience opportunities have been meaningful in helping me figure out what I want to do after college.
My experiences at Stout allowed me to learn by doing and helped broaden my perspective on what is possible in the technology education field.
How did your involvement on campus impact your experience?
I worked at Stout Adventures all four years. I applied for the job when I was a freshman to get more involved on campus. I started out as a climbing wall specialist, teaching people how to belay and climb at the wall. Then I transitioned more into leading trips. I facilitated and led canoeing and camping trips to Moab, Utah; Isle Royale, Mich.; Door County; Devils Lake; High Cliff State Park and many local places around UW-Stout.
This campus job helped me develop leadership, communication and problem-solving skills. At the start of my junior year, I became the student manager and helped run all operations and programming for Stout Adventures.
The experiences helped prepare me for my future career in education.
During college, I also played underwater hockey. This sport is not a club at UW-Stout, so I traveled to continue to play the sport. During a typical week, I would be training at the Menomonie High School pool and then would fly out on the weekends to tournaments across the U.S. During my sophomore year, I had the opportunity to try out for the USA Men’s National Team and was selected to represent the United States at the 2023 Underwater Hockey World Championships, in Gold Coast, Australia.
This sport has impacted my experience at UW-Stout because it taught the importance of time management and what it means to be a student athlete.
What challenges did you face in earning your degree?
The largest challenge that I faced was the financial challenge. Going to college is expensive, and I was able to utilize the UW-Stout Foundation to apply for foundation scholarships. I was selected to receive scholarships every year, and these scholarships helped me offset some college expenses.
Another large challenge that I faced was managing the course load that I was taking. In a typical semester, I was taking an average of 17 to 18 credit hours, along with working an on-campus job at Stout Adventures’ climbing wall. This schedule kept me very busy, and I developed some really good time management skills to complete everything.
What are you most proud of as you finish your degree?
I am most proud of my ability to work toward my goal of completing my college degree. I not only accomplished this goal, but I was able to complete it early. I was able to do this by working really hard and having a really good program director who helped me take the right classes. It would be really cool to tell my younger self that I did it.
My words of advice for anyone considering a large goal is, “Go for it!” I feel that this motto has helped me get where I am today and helped push me to complete my college degree.
I am also really proud of the relationships that I was able to form with friends and professors. These are people that I can utilize well after my time at Stout.
I’d like to give a huge thank you to my parents, family, friends and professors for all the love and support that they have given me in my time at UW-Stout.
