by Julia Mungenast
As the youngest of the millennial generation graduates from college this spring we will take a look at some of our local millennial college grads to learn about their journey to college graduation and a sneak peak at what their future holds
Jared Bilinski
Jared Bilinski was born and raised in Spencerport, and is a 2014 graduate from Spencerport High School. History, science and ecology were among Jared’s favorite classes in high school, and he always had a love for nature and music. He plays bass guitar and was part of a band in high school.
Jared was undecided on what path he would take after high school. He was not sure if he was “cut out” for college. During his senior year he decided to enroll at The College at Brockport taking classes towards a psychology major.
An environmental science class that Jared took during his sophomore year at Brockport ignited his passion to turn his love of nature into a career path. He changed his major to pursue a degree in environmental science and ecology. The following year Jared took an internship in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he worked with a public utility company. Jared spent much of his time in Utah hiking, researching weed species, and mitigating toxic weeds that killed other species of plants and poisoned wildlife.
“Graduating from college was one of my best accomplishments,” Jared said. As he looked back at his education journey Jared reflected, “School was not always easy for me. I needed to get some extra help and use tutors.” Jared did not give up just because it was challenging. He stayed focused and motivated and kept working to accomplish his degree in the field he is passionate about.
Jared’s advice to high school students is, “Don’t think you need to know what you are doing with your life when you are in high school. I was unsure about college almost my whole high school career. There is a lot of pressure to figure it right out.” But Jared feels it is important to take the time to really determine what you are interested in. Jared graduated from The College at Brockport in May 2019. He is currently living home in Spencerport, but will soon be off to Santa Cruz, California, to interview with the public utility company. He hopes to acquire a position in a public utility, the conservation field or become a park ranger.
in San Francisco.
Jared Heidt
Jared Heidt grew up in the town of Hamlin and graduated from Brockport High School in 2015. He enjoys the outdoors, hiking, traveling and spending time with friends and family. Jared was a swimmer in high school, and liked the field of civil engineering.
He enlisted in the Army National Guard and went to boot camp during the summer of his junior year in high school. His position in the National Guard was construction engineering. He spent time working in HVAC and electrical engineering which he liked. This experience influenced Jared’s decision to pursue electrical engineering as his college field of study. He was accepted at Clarkson University to study engineering.
A computer programming class that Jared took during his freshman year sparked his interest and enthusiasm for the field of computer science. When Jared returned to Clarkson as a sophomore he declared computer science as his major. “I really like computer science,” Jared said. “You can design anything you can think of. There are so many cool products created through programming.” Jared gained valuable hands-on experience through internships at Northrop Grumman, a defense contractor in Baltimore, and IBM in Poughkeepsie. He went on to finish his bachelor’s degree as he finished his four-year term with the Army National Guard.
Before Jared even crossed the stage at his graduation from Clarkson in May, he already had four job offers from which to choose. He was offered positions at Capital One, IBM and Microsoft, and ultimately accepted a position at Facebook. “It was absolutely mind-blowing to have these offers come in before I graduated,” Jared said. “I really liked Facebook, the transparency of the company and how grounded the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is working directly with the software engineers. There were so many more perks at Facebook, including covering relocation expenses. I really look forward to living in the San Francisco Bay area right in the Silicon Valley Culture.”
Looking back, Jared realizes his college experience was not like most of his peers. He spent his weekends off doing drills for the Army. “The military experience is really what shaped me,” he said. “It instilled discipline in me and I had to learn how to balance my responsibilities between both college and military.” Jared’s parents were extremely supportive and loving, which was a big help.
Jared’s advice to high school students is the same advice his Dad taught him; “Pay now, play later. If you go to college to work hard it will pay off in the long run!”
Jared will relocate to San Francisco this summer and his position at Facebook begins in August.
