At Michigan Technological University, extracurricular activities can help students find their careers. Just ask Ben Amat '26, who found his career path on the sled dog trail.
Amat came to Michigan Tech as a new student unsure where he wanted his studies to take him — but there was never uncertainty about his choice of schools. His older brother Peter, who graduated from Tech with a bachelor's degree in computer engineering in 2023, had shared his positive experiences as a Husky. Combining that endorsement with his own love of the outdoors and an appreciation for class sizes that allow for personalized attention made choosing Tech easy.
As a new Husky, Amat joined the Mushing Club at Michigan Tech because he missed his dog back home. He expected the time spent with furry friends to help with his homesickness. He didn't expect it to help him choose a career.
"After joining the mushing club, I figured out within a couple of months that I wanted to be a veterinarian," said Amat. "Now I'm club president and I never looked back."
"I decided what I wanted to do with my life before I chose my major."
Amat got help choosing his course of study from the Exploring Majors program at Michigan Tech. Directed by Heather Simpson, the program includes one-on-one discussions about interests, talents and career goals, along with a course that includes visits from current students in a variety of majors who share what it's like to study in their programs. What Amat heard about the medical laboratory science (MLS) program clicked.
"The presentation convinced me that MLS is a really cool hands-on major with a lot of career opportunities that's super applicable to anything pre-med, pre-health, and pre-veterinary science," Amat said.
From the Lab to the Trails to the Job
When he's not in the lab or carrying out his duties as mushing club president, Amat works as a veterinary assistant and kennel technician at Copper Country Veterinary Clinic in Atlantic Mine, about six miles from campus. Everything he's learning in his MLS classes has been applicable to his work and to his mushing hobby.
"We're in the lab so much of the time for my major, and then I get to practice it at my job," said Amat. "I do the same stuff I do in my lab in my workplace. Even when I'm mushing, I'm now able to hone in on issues dogs might have, or understand the chemistry of a sled dog's metabolism when they're running 200 miles."
Amat's experiences have given him a greater range of skills and techniques than he'd have gotten from any single job, club or degree program. For example, he was able to bring his phlebotomy skills from the lab to the vet clinic, where he had to adapt his basic technique to the animals' needs.
"How you hold everything is a bit different. A lot of times you're also restraining the animal with your other hand," said Amat. "You're doing the blood draw one-handed, but you can see the veins a lot better because they're right underneath the skin."
Treating animals comes with different challenges than treating human patients. For Amat, those distinctions show that while medical laboratory science is important in human medicine, it's perhaps even more so in veterinary medicine — in part because all veterinarians' patients are nonverbal. "Without technicians examining specimens from a patient with an underlying condition, it would be almost impossible to diagnose and treat a multitude of conditions in the veterinary world," he said.
Leading the Pack
Amat's insights translated well to his role as a mushing club leader. He's represented Tech in many sled dog races, and placed 12th in the UP200 in February. The 228-mile Upper Peninsula race runs from Marquette to Grand Marais and back, through forests and near-wilderness. One of the top 12-dog mid-distance races in the Midwest, it's also a qualifying race for the Iditarod, the premier long-distance sled dog race in North America. Rookie mushers must complete two qualifying races of 300 miles or more and one qualifying race of 150 miles or more to compete in the Iditarod.
"It was really, really hard to train for that while in school. It took a lot out of me," said Amat. "But it's been on my bucket list. I knew if I didn't do it now through the club, I probably wouldn't get the opportunity in the future."
Amat's ability to pursue mushing is almost entirely due to the mushing club, which partners with two local kennels — Otter River Sled Dog Training Center and Wilderness Adventures in Tapiola and High's Adventure Kennel in Mohawk — to provide experiences for students. Between the two kennels, club members get experience caring for 60-70 dogs while learning from knowledgeable kennel owners and racers. Otter River owners Tom and Sally Bauer became the first hosts and mentors of a collegiate mushing club in the United States when they stepped up to support the founding of the Mushing Club at Michigan Tech in 2018. Justin and Jamiee High of High's Adventure Kennel have both run the Iditarod and are experienced dog handlers.
"Both of these kennels do operate differently, and we believe that partnering with different kennels is important, because each musher has a different way of doing things," said Amat.
Those partnerships led to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Amat when Tom Bauer invited him to help care for sled dogs in Alaska in summer 2023.
"My parents were really freaked out," said Amat. "One year, I'm a totally normal, sane person, and all of a sudden I'm a dog musher in Alaska the next year."
Amat traveled with the kennel owner and 36 sled dogs to Skagway, Alaska. The coastal town is a common stop for cruise ships. During the height of the season, the town's population of around 600 booms to 10,000 on a daily basis. Amat spent the summer caring for the sled dogs and giving tours to visitors.
"It was really fun to stay in such a beautiful place," said Amat, who called the trip one of his favorite life experiences thus far. "It really got me hooked on mushing."
Amat doubled down on his mushing obsession and moved into a leadership role as club president in 2024. Race opportunities were nil due to low snowfall totals in 2023-24, and 2024-25 was a growth year for membership, as more experienced club members had graduated and moved on.
As one of the club's few experienced mushers, Amat stepped into a bigger teaching role and learned to delegate. In January 2025, he faced his first large-scale organizational challenge as the team participated in the Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race. Amat and his fellow executive board members coordinated 16 club members and 32 dogs with a grueling race schedule that included 3 a.m. wakeup calls.
"There were only two or three people in the club that had actually been to a race before," said Amat. "After that first race, everything has been so much easier. Everyone knows what they're doing now and we have a lot more experience, so I can trust people to take on more responsibility."
Amat came to Michigan Tech as a new student unsure where he wanted his studies to take him. Now he is a decisive leader, a skilled musher, and on the path to a fulfilling career. Amat said Tech has given him the freedom, opportunities and leadership experience he needed to find his path.
"Tech is quite honestly the perfect size for exploring your path in your career and life," said Amat. "The professors love to hear from students, and are always so welcoming. Undecided students should take advantage of this environment and reach out with any questions you have about a career or major."
Michigan Technological University is an R1 public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan's flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
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