Alum Juggling Careers in Meteorology and Money

A popular weather-themed movie coupled with real-life meteorological mayhem propelled Josh Kozlowski '03 down his first of two career paths. Between the Blizzard of 1993, the movie Twister which came out in 1996, and the Labor Day storm of 1998, Kozlowski had plenty of inspiration. "We experienced this severe ebb of weather and I was fascinated by it. I said to myself the night of the Labor Day Storm that I wanted to be able to, at some point in the future, tell people something was coming before it got there. There were so many people who said 'I didn't know it was coming.'"

Kozlowski brought his passion for weather forecasting, and a clip from the movie "Twister," to the OCC campus earlier this month when he spoke with students in Professor Buffy Quinn's Intro to Meteorology class. That night he played video from his classroom visit while doing the weather forecast on the television stations of CNY Central.

The campus visit provided Kozlowski an opportunity to reminisce about his time here as a student. After graduating from Westhill High School in June of 2001 he came to OCC on the advice of his father who was a graduate of OCC. "He said 'you can go wherever you want to go, but just know a community college is going to give you the same education.' I was really sold on the small class size here. I didn't want to have classes in a big lecture hall."

Kozlowski started in the Engineering Science degree program, switched to Mathematics & Science, and excelled in his coursework. He was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and in his final semester was recognized by faculty with the Curriculum Honors award. Throughout his two years at OCC he worked at Wegmans and the scholarship they awarded him covered his tuition costs.

He would transfer to SUNY Oswego, earn a bachelor's degree in Meteorology, then go to work in the Syracuse television market delivering weather forecasts on what was then Time Warner Cable's "News 10 Now." He loved being a part of extended coverage of severe weather, the same type of weather which inspired his career choice. "It was pretty exciting to put everything you learned into play and give people the information they needed."

But eventually the long hours and low pay led him to reexamine his career choice. "It wasn't ideal if you wanted to build a family, have a social life, and have that work/life balance."

Kozlowski decided to pursue a second career in finance. As with Meteorology, it's a specialty which demands precision. "I have a very analytical mind. My dad was an engineer. I grew up with Legos and erector sets. I really liked building things and he was into taking things apart."

While continuing to work as a Meteorologist he earned a Master of Business Administration at Le Moyne College. During that time he also had a second job, working as a Customer Service Representative for HSBC Bank. He completed his MBA in 2013 and now works for Key Investment Services in Fayetteville.

Through it all he's stayed active in the world of Television Meteorology. He's worked for stations in Rochester, Buffalo, Utica, and Syracuse with CNY Central as needed. "If there were 9 to 5 gigs in broadcasting I'd say 'sign me up.' But I really enjoy what I'm doing now. I'm helping people plan for their future. And by switching careers I'm acting upon my own advice."