Hello

My name is Jack Leonard. I grew up in Pottsville, Pennsylvania—a small town with a rich coal mining history. I graduated from Minersville Area Jr./Sr. High School and attended Penn State Harrisburg for two years before transferring to State College to complete my degree. I preferred starting at a branch campus because it served as a transitional period between my small high school class of 69 students and the 42,000-student main campus Penn State is known for.

 

In high school, I played soccer and ran track. I preferred math and science over English and writing, which led me to pursue a STEM field in college. I found Civil Engineering to be a versatile discipline with many practical applications, making it an appealing choice for a career.

 

I spent two summers interning as a roadway engineer with Benesch, which provided me with valuable professional connections and an excellent experience overall. In my senior year, I accepted a Field Engineer position with Mortenson because I love to travel, and the work feels meaningful to me. Upon graduating, my first project will be constructing a solar panel grid in the deserts of New Mexico.

 

I have two older sisters and have been a cat owner since I turned five. I grew up running around outside, playing made-up games with my sisters and the neighbors, and exploring the wooded trails behind our house. I’ve always felt at peace in the forest and try to spend as much time as I can hiking, biking, and camping. Many of my hobbies are things I do alone because people can be unreliable with plans—and I know I’ll always enjoy my own company.

 

I enjoy snowboarding, longboarding, lifting, running, reading, riding dirt bikes, and cooking (to an amateur degree), as well as listening to music, and much more. I mostly listen to rock music that spans back to the 1950s—skipping the '80s—but my taste does vary. I love trying new things and getting better at them; it makes for an interesting life.

 

With so much time spent hiking in the woods, I decided to buy a digital camera—a Canon EOS Rebel T7—in the spring of 2023. I fell in love with the ability to capture the scenes of the wilderness. Up until that point, I had been using an outdated phone, so acquiring a professional camera was much more rewarding and gave me even more incentive to travel.

 

My ambition in life isn’t to become wealthy or climb the corporate ladder. Rather, I hope to be rich in experiences and give back to the Earth at every step. I can see myself working outside of my degree at some point—working “for the world,” in a sense. Helping the natural environment in whatever way possible and employing sustainable living as much as possible!

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