Caroline Czarnecki was intrigued when she heard a fellow member of UT’s Canoe and Hiking Club had previously been a whitewater rafting guide. Czarnecki had always loved the outdoors and trying new adventures.
Once Czarnecki got home and began scrolling through her phone, the algorithm for her social channels began showing whitewater rafting videos.
“It was like I was being inspired by all these young people choosing to use their youth in a way to benefit their lives in every aspect,” said Czarnecki, a rising senior in industrial engineering. “I wanted the experience of tent life and being in nature for a few months to re-establish my connection with it.”
Instead of serving an internship this summer, Czarnecki is building her leadership and planning skills as a whitewater rafting guide in Yellowstone National Park. She is working for Wild West Rafting from June through August, living in a tent at a campground with her fellow guides.
Czarnecki typically guides three rafting sessions a day and does some overnight trips, where she also cooks dinner and breakfast for groups. In preparation for the job, she obtained her swift water rescue certification.
“I just love the outdoors and I wanted to get the chance to do that kind of work, because I eventually see myself working in the disaster relief or the emergency response field,” Czarnecki said. “I wanted more first-hand experience being outside and being able to get the certifications that you would need to be in those situations.”
Environmentally Friendly Future
Czarnecki, who is also pursuing minors in engineering entrepreneurship and engineering management, is part of the 2025 cohort of UT’s Heath Integrated Business and Engineering Program.
The Arlington, Virginia, native wants to incorporate environmental sustainability into her professional career. While taking a course at UT, Czarnecki discovered she loved working on projects that involved process improvement and innovative solutions to problems.
During high school, Czarnecki was involved in robotics and was a member of the Civil Air Patrol. She was on a search and rescue team and got to fly a Cessna aircraft. The Covid-19 pandemic prevented her from obtaining her pilot’s license, but being around planes sparked her interest in engineering.
“I knew I wanted to be an engineer because I’ve always been very interested in how things work,” Czarnecki said. “I wanted to understand how the processes worked and learn how to improve systems. I started as an aerospace major, but went into industrial engineering because it was the most people-focused engineering discipline and you have a lot of variety and options that you can do.”
Czarnecki has been very active beyond the classroom at UT. She is the vice president of business development for the Student Space and Technology Association and was recently named vice president of UT’s Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers student chapter.
Keeping Things Balanced
Last summer, Czarnecki served an internship with an engineering consulting firm in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and remained working part-time for the company throughout the 2023-24 school year. Czarnecki balanced that job with her role as the first-ever student project manager for UT’s Office of Innovative Technologies, where she was managing six different projects, including Mic/Nite.
In her spare time, Czarnecki plays the saxophone and loves going to jazz concerts in downtown Knoxville. She recently started making jewelry and sold a few items at Artist’s Alley in the Student Union Plaza in April.
Being able to spend three months living in a tent and guiding rafts on the Yellowstone River was an adventure Czarnecki couldn’t turn down. Using the outdoors as her classroom, she expects to return to UT refreshed and ready for her senior year.
“It’s a great break from all the work that we have to do as engineers throughout the school year,” she said. “But it’s a break that has an intention of building my skills for getting those rescue certifications and meeting new people.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)