Photo by Matt Carlin
Michael Bojsza was walking through the MCCC campus during last fall’s student activity fair, and he stopped by the Phi Beta Lambda table to say hello to one of his favorite professors. Flash forward and Michael is now president of Phi Beta Lambda, MCCC’s Student Business Organization, while also preparing to graduate in May and move onto a Bachelor’s degree at Temple. It’s a lot to balance, but Bojsza is getting pretty good at taking care of business.
Born in Philadelphia to first generation immigrant parents from Poland, Bojsza learned at a young age what it meant to work hard and appreciate what you earn.
“I started working at 14,” Bojsza revealed. “My father passed away when I was 12. So I learned the hard way how to value a dollar.”
Bojsza went on to study culinary arts at the North Montco Technical Career Center, graduating and moving on to study business at MCCC. He soon came to realize that the immediate step to college wasn’t one he was prepared to take.
“I first went to school when I was 18, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and I decided to take some time off,” Bojsza said
Returning to MCCC at 24 years old, Bojsza, who now resides in Schwenksville, was ready to commit himself academically and figure out where he wanted to be in the business world. Currently finishing up his liberal studies degree, Bojsza has moved past his original dream of opening up his own restaurant and has gone with a different passion.
“I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in a restaurant,” Bojsza confessed. “I didn’t want to marry the business, so I decided to venture into sports, something I absolutely love.”
Bojsza played baseball for eight years growing up, football in high school, and even gave basketball a try. Combining his passion for business and his passion for sports, Bojsza found himself settling into his classes and looking forward to his future.
“I’m motivated more now than ever,” Bojsza confided.
And his motivation shows. Having withdrawn from his classes during his first experience at MCCC, Bojsza steadily raised his GPA the second time around to a 3.2 while at the same time getting involved on campus and working hard outside of school.
“MCCC is great for me,” Bojsza firmly insisted. “I think it’s the greatest opportunity that I chose for myself. Because of the cost, and it’s a great school with great teachers. They really know their stuff that they are teaching you there. So I’m just fortunate that MCCC is in this area and I can attend.”
Bojsza was also quick to point out that much of his interest and success in business management has been encouraged by the MCCC faculty and school-wide community.
“I’ve always been interested in my business management classes and marketing classes. Eileen Kearney, she is my favorite teacher and also the adviser of Phi Beta Lambda,” Bojsza said. “My adviser, Nancy Gazan, she is like a second mother to me. She’s pushed me through courses…and it’s been the best thing for me.”
For all of the guidance and support that he has garnered from the College, Bojsza has been incredibly busy lately giving back to the community as president of the College’s Phi Beta Lambda chapter, the national honors society for college business students. The club has been making great strides this year, charitably and personally.
Most recently, the students engaged in an upcoming event to support March Dimes in which Ford Motor Company brought five cars to MCCC’s Central Campus. For everyone who test drove one of their cars, Ford donated $20 to MCCC, up to 300 people, to benefit March of Dimes.
On top of their charitable events, Bojsza is also leading the organization in preparation for the Phi Beta Lambda National Leadership Conference in June. The club will travel to California and compete in individual and team business events on behalf of MCCC.
“The club keeps me pretty busy,” Bojsza admitted. “It’s hard to find time for my girlfriend, my personal life, my friends.”
And yet Bojsza is somehow still balancing everything, having just started a new job at a recently opened restaurant while celebrating his one year anniversary with his girlfriend.
Graduating in May, Bojsza is already looking forward to his next step. Returning to Philadelphia, Bojsza plans to attend Temple University’s Fox School of Business for a Marketing and Sports Management degree, with ambitions for an eventual sports law degree.
“Specializing in sports law, there is a vast amount of things that I can do,” Bojsza shared. “I could open up my own firm and handle millions of dollars in contracts. And if that doesn’t work out I’d love to work for ESPN someday, maybe as a marketing analyst or something along those lines.”
The only sure thing? While Bojsza loves Philadelphia and the education he has received at MCCC, he’s ready to be somewhere warm for awhile.
On his ideal job, Bojsza answered quickly.
“A sports agent,” he said, “In Florida.”
~ by Kelly Cox
Think Success 