People of Central: Mason Szczepanski

Story by: Beth Nocerini

College has many paths you can take. The typical four-year college plan is not as typical anymore. Students will often change majors, take a semester off and switch campuses all together. Mason Szczepanski is a full-time employee and student at CMU and has also taken a less chosen path as a college student.  

First starting as a freshman in 2019 at CMU, covid caused a chain reaction of switching majors and going in and out of college for Szczepanski.  She decided to take a break from taking classes in the spring of 2022.  

She returned last fall in 2024, taking classes at MidMichigan and is continuing this fall at CMU. Through these years Szczepanski had struggles with finding a major that felt right to her.  

Starting as a music major, she then switched to biology with the hope of furthering to pre-medicine. She then went back to music, switched to ecology and is now an art major. 

“I was going through mental health stuff after covid and throughout covid for like four years, the only thing that made me feel happy and like life was worth living was doing art”, said Szczepanski. 

She would also like to become an art teacher one day, “I was teaching people how to crotchet and it was something I had enjoyed the most in over like 10 years” she said.  

“It’s just a skill that you don’t want to practice, and you can genuinely develop this skill, you just need to spend time at it, and we are going to do this together” said Szczepanski. 

Szczepanski lives off campus with her two cats Kevin and Frankfurt and only has a 7-minute walk as a commute. “I’m saving money because I don’t need to drive, I don’t need a car, I don’t need to pay gas”, said Szczepanski.  

Szczepanski works full time at Starbucks in the University Center on campus and has been since 2020. “I feel like some of the students don’t realize that even if you’re taking 15 credits you can still work a job”, said Szczepanski.  

To try and balance work and school Szczepanski does schoolwork on her 15 and 30 minute breaks during her shifts at Starbucks. “Motivation isn’t a real thing, you just have to do it”, said Szczepanski.  

Some advice Szczepanski has for students thinking of getting a job is, “know the places you are applying for” and “you need to focus on getting your work done after work as much as you don’t want to do it”, she said.  

When asked what her favorite places on campus are, Szczepanski pointed to the rocks sitting at the edge of the pond in the botanical gardens and said, “I like sitting on those rocks and just staring at the abyss.”  

“This really is a beautiful campus, and I feel like we don’t say that or appreciate that enough”, said Szczepanski.  

Some advice for starting freshmen Szczepanski has is utilizing the mental health resources on campus and knowing that your professors genuinely do want to help you.  

During freshmen year Szczepanski spent a lot of time in her dorm room. She said she realized, “you just have to venture out.”  When it comes to being scared about people judging you, “nobody genuinely cares in college and I kind of love that”, said Szczepanski.