Jill Johnson
Hi! I'm Jill Johnson and I graduated from Youngsville High School in 1999 and the Penn State Behrend
METBD program in 2003. I currently serve in the US Navy as a Nuclear Instructor, and am a Lieutenant JG. I teach enlisted sailors the basics of operating a nuclear powered submarine or carrier plant and have also taught Heat Transfer, Fluid Flow, Material Science, Chemistry, and the Fundamentals of Radiation.
The METBD program gave me knowledge of the subjects that I teach, including more real life examples and application for many of the concepts that I teach. I think the classes that are most valuable to my job were in materials. The strength of materials labs and the material science class in my senior year have made me the local materials expert in the school. I am the only person who has actually done a tension test and a Charpy test and a hardness, all of which we teach to the student to introduce material selection. The METBD hands-on environment trained me to be a better designer because I actually had to build my own designs. The computer classes were also helpful as the training on the current technology of computer-aided design and simulation was the best part of the program, in my opinion. No other degree program spends as much time teaching useful applications such as computer-aided design. Also, no other degree program can give you experience with ANSYS and Pro/E as the MET program does.
I lived off-campus the entire fours years and had a hard time finding female friends because all my classmates were guys. I think a year of "bonding" in dorms is great for meeting people, but the independence of living-off campus is nice too.
Don't be scared of careers with the military. Pay and benefits are great and the four years of travel is worth the effort. I had to take calculus based Math and Physics to get this job, but it really has been worth it.
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