Dear Malcolm,

My name is Ian Johnson, I am 18 years old and I am from Greensboro,

North Carolina. I am a freshman mechanical engineer major looking to do
research and design for an automobile/motorcycle company. I have a small,
very close-knit family of 7 at the moment as well as a 7 year old
Goldendoodle named Maggie. My life up to this point has been centered on
academics and automobiles. I have an unmatched passions for cars and
anything with a motor and wheels. I hope to be successful at UNCC and hope
to have a fulfilling time while on the campus.
My hometown is very important to me and is something that I am
proud of. I am technically from Greensboro, North Carolina, but I spent much
of my life in the neighboring town of High Point, North Carolina. Greensboro
was the big city with busy streets and crowded parking lots. High Point was
the redneck po-dunk town with a lot less people, but also a lot less to do.
The main attractions in High Point were Walmart, Cookout and McDonalds. I
attended Southwest Guilford for all 13 years (Kindergarten- 12) and lived in
the same 1100 sq-ft. house for all 18 years of my life. It may not have looked
like much, but it was and still is very special to me.
I come a very close-knit family with strong ethics and morals. There are
only 7 of us. Both of my parents are only children, which means no aunts,
uncles, or cousins for Ian. Although I was born in NC, all of my family
including my parents are from north Pittsburgh, PA. Both of my grandfathers

were hard-working, blue collar individuals. Both of my grandmothers were

teachers. One of my grandfathers worked in a Steel mill in Pittsburgh and the
other worked on construction in a nearby area. They were both workaholics
and alcoholics. It was very common for them to work 80+ hour weeks. From
that, a very strong work ethic was derived in the Johnson Household. They
were taught to work hard and be the best. That was passed down to both of
my parents and eventually to me and my brother. My mom is a Speech
Pathologist at the same middle school I attended. My father works for Ferrari,
Porsche, Maserati and Aston Martin as a parts manager at the nearby dealer.
My brother is 16 years old and attends the Early College at Guilford College
in Greensboro. He is the smartest person I know. He can be my best friend,
but also my worst enemy, it just depends what mood he is in. We are all
VERY close. My grandfather recently passed away from a series of strokes. It
was very hard for all of us to go through. He was my fathers mentor and
best friend. He taught all of us meaningful advice for the real world and how
anything can be accomplished if your work hard enough. Something I take
very seriously.

My interests are pretty simple; bowling, cars and music. I have always
had a love for the automobile. When I was little, my mom used to get upset

with me because I would take my toy trucks into bed with me. My love grew
from 500+ Hot wheels cars, to dirt bikes. It was the closest thing I could get
to a car at the age of 8. I started racing when I was 8 years old. I was in love
with it. My father and I would build the bikes, race, and then rebuild the bikes
for the next weekend. It was good bonding time for me and my family. I
raced from the time I was 8 until was 16. As soon as I turned 16, the dirt bike
was put on craigslist and I was looking for my first car. My first car was my
grandfathers 1994 Ford f150. It wasnt the prettiest piece of equipment
ever, but it got the job done. It only had 55,000 miles on it and was babied
its whole life and still is. It was washed and waxed at least once a week and
is as clean as any new car on the road today. It was nice but it didnt fit my
style. I then spent the next 8 months of my looking every night on craigslist
for a new car. What I found was a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 in Concord,
completely stock, no modifications. Between June of last year and now I have
transformed this truck into every 18 year old boys dream. I installed a 6 inch
lift, 35 inch tires, 22 inch rims, sound system, train horn, motor performance
parts, exhaust, tint, and led lights all on my own. There were many breaking
points within the building of the truck, but it is something I am very proud of
and enjoy very much.

Bowling was something I started recently. I started it because I had

nothing to do after the end of my motocross career. I didnt want to play
football or do anything to harm my body. My choices were either golf or
bowling. I chose bowling. At my home alley, I was in 3 leagues and competed
in many state and regional tournaments. Bowling is a sport the many people
think is easy, but in reality is not. It is very hard to remain consistent and
keep your scores up to a competitive level. That is why I love it.
My music tastes are peculiar to many people. I love the meaning and
the values of country music. I think it teaches the right message to people,
but does not have right flow. Rap music is the total opposite, it has the right
flow, but not the right meaning and morals. That is why I have found the
genre of hick-hop. Hick-hop has the flow of a rap song, with the morals and
meanings of country music. (It sounds awful, but it is better than you think!).
The country and rap cultures at first seem completely different, but are
actually very similar. They both have strong attachments to food, family,
guns and alcohol. They both like to have large rims and tires on their
vehicles. They both have a coming from nothing attitude about their music,
whether coming from the farm or the ghetto. With these in mind, it fairly
easy to combine the two and create hick-hop.
I am very happy with my choice here at UNCC. The campus is beautiful
and the people here are just as I expected. I am planning on majoring in
mechanical engineering. I chose this because of the motorsports
concentration provided here and for the fact that mechanics dont make any

money in the real world. I am eager to see what your class and others like
ENGR 1201 and Math 1241 have to offer. I am excited and I hope to be
successful here at UNCC.

Ian Johnson