Drive train. Heater core. Half shaft.

Senior Jonah Spencer has things that other students may not know about him, but his interest in working on cars in his free time stands out. Spencer is not sure when his interest in cars developed.

“I’ve always been interested in taking apart and putting things back together,” Spencer said. “And in middle school I just started getting interested in cars.”

He enjoyed building and deconstructing objects in his life, and a natural attraction to cars developed. He nourished this interest in cars to become an important part of his life. Eventually, that interest led Spencer to save money and take a concrete step towards his first fixer-upper.

Transforming an interest into reality is not easy, but Spencer decided to take action and become more invested in his hobby. Spencer turned an interest into a job so that he could learn valuable skills and experience an aspect of the world he does not regularly see.  

“I got a job this summer as a mechanic at German Auto Works in St Louis Park,” Spencer said.

His interest in building and taking things apart transformed into a distinct interest in assembling cars, which turned into a job that gave Spencer new experiences. Knowing a camshaft from a spark plug, Spencer can get a car in gear.