UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield meets active student’s business goals

Submitted to OnFocus – Jack Bezlyk’s mantra is “stay busy, stay creative.”

The 20-year-old student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Marshfield lives this refrain. He completed his associate degree this spring and now has his sights on earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration at the Marshfield campus.

An all-conference player on the Marauder men’s basketball team, Bezlyk owns a home and recently celebrated his first wedding anniversary. In addition, he works 25 to 30 hours a week during the school year (more during the summer) as a safety administrative assistant at Masonite Architectural, a Marshfield commercial and residential door manufacturer.

He heeded his mother’s advice to start his college education at UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield.

“I don’t want to find myself in a lot of debt after I graduate,” the 2018 Spencer High School graduate said. “My mother is a kindergarten teacher. She went to a private liberal arts college. Her experience factored into my college choice.

“I also was able to stay close to home and have been able to see my younger brothers (ages 18, 16 and 12) on a weekly basis. Growing up together, we formed a good bond,” said Bezlyk, who still helps coach his youngest brother’s school basketball team.

He has also had some great professors, he said. One of his favorite instructors is James Servi, who teaches project management and organizational behavior courses at the university’s Marshfield and Wausau campuses.

“He is always learning, continuing to evolve by educating himself. I like that approach,” said Bezlyk, who took Servi’s Business Leadership for Managers course last spring. “Plus, he encouraged problem solving and entertaining new ideas. It was a fun and enjoyable environment.”

Prior to the university bringing the business administration major to Marshfield in 2019, Bezlyk was weighing his options on where to complete his four-year degree. He was considering transferring to the main campus in Stevens Point or to UW-Stout. However, both choices would impact his lifestyle and pose added financial costs.

“I was unsure of what I was going to do. Will I be able to continue working, support my wife, and stay up on my studies?

“Going to college and being so close to where I live is something I do not take for granted,” said Bezlyk, who plans to start a photography or clothing design business after earning his bachelor’s degree. “I now have the ability to continue my education at a really good university and get into a great program.”

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