'The Road to Automotive'
Published 05.07.2024
The Tomorrow Makers podcast rolls into its 20th episode with “The Road to Automotive” with Chris Holley, assistant professor of automotive at Penn College.
Chris began his automotive path selling tires at Sears (while enrolled in computer science classes, following his father’s occupation). The long and winding road of automotive excitement beckoned, however, and years later, he holds numerous certifications from the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence and writes for automotive industry magazines, logging 70 to 80 articles a year. This educator has a brain for numbers and shares that he’s teaching his 85th automotive air conditioning systems & service class – and has had 1,120 students.
With his eye ever on those students, he steers them toward personality tests to be certain they’re in the correct field. He also has a reputation for sharing a lot of material in class. “It's kind of known by everybody,” he laughs. “I have so much to cover, and I get into it … I feel the students are paying a good amount of money, so I should give them way more than they're paying for.” Chris holds a high bar for student performance. In fact, he confesses his students appreciate him most after they graduate and realize the value of their hard work and Penn College education.
This conversation is definitely not all numbers and educational content. Be sure to catch the story of his Penn College job interview – and his quest to find a business suit on the fly in Williamsport after his airline luggage was missing in action. Oh, and that parking ticket that he got when he arrived on campus? There’s that tale, too.
Enjoy the ride with this engaging, authentic conversation and be sure to share your thoughts about the episode or suggest future topics by email.