Wheeler never wanted to go to college in the first place. “I got toward the end of high school,” he said, “and was bound and determined I was not going.” The northeast Ohio native had two ideas instead: join the military or become a park ranger. He chose the latter, learning that park rangers need an education too.
He found a niche natural resources program at a community college in southeast Ohio, where he ultimately earned an associate degree in environmental education. “I was convinced I was going to be good at it,” he confidently recalled. “But I rapidly discovered that everybody wants to be a park ranger. There were very few jobs in that field.”
Wheeler went right back to the well with a totally new approach. He switched to the same school’s industrial ceramic engineering technology program, learning to manufacture things like housing bricks, ceramic cements and dinner plates. Once someone who adamantly disdained college, here Wheeler was with two degrees. “Not exactly what I planned,” he admitted, “but it wound up getting me a job.”
In the following years, he found several jobs, most notably as a lab tech at a ceramic spark plug plant in eastern Ohio. “I was on track to be in charge of the lab eventually,” Wheeler recalled, “but I wanted to do more. I was looking more toward pursuing operations management.” That meant he had to get a four-year degree, and Ohio State Newark had to be the place. “It was a great small school feel, it was in a very nice area, and you couldn't beat the price.”
Only one problem: He couldn’t finish an engineering degree in Newark.* It had to be completed on the Columbus campus, which Wheeler found overwhelming. But he found a workaround. “Jobs in operations management often require a degree in either engineering or business,” he said. “And I could get my business management degree entirely at Ohio State Newark.”
So he did. In 2020, after six and a half years of fitting in evening classes, he finally earned his bachelor’s degree. The impact was immediate. Right after graduation, Wheeler was promoted to a quality engineer at Cleveland-Cliffs Coshocton Works, where he still works today. “I’ve now become the engineer that our salespeople call because they know I can talk to the customer too,” he said. “I’m opening new doors, and that’s a direct result of what I learned at Ohio State Newark.”
The pivots have all panned out. Wheeler once thought he would never use his education — that he could just learn on the job — yet it ultimately opened the door to his ideal career. The place he spent the most time learning holds a special place in his heart. “I had an amazing experience in Newark. It distills down the best parts of Ohio State, which is the student focus and the fantastic education,” Wheeler said. “I've been able to expand my career because of this place, and you can too.”
*The Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology is now available completely at Ohio State Newark.