How often does a hobby turn into a career opportunity? Joshua Horvath of Binghamton, NY, has found that tinkering with cars can result in much more than a pair of greasy jeans. His love for everything mechanical, com­bined with God’s grace, has led to an experience many engineering stu­dents can only dream of.

His mom, Ruth Horvath, describes Josh as “extremely well-rounded” and “full of surprises”. At age 18, Josh can be found on the soccer field and basket­ball court playing for the local home- school teams. Heavily involved with his local 4-H group, he’s won awards on both the regional and national level; he’s the substitute pianist at his church; he plays the trum­pet.

But in the middle of this whirl of activities, Josh Horvath has a special talent. “People say that I have a God-given ability for mechanical things.. .working on cars, machinery, being able to tell people how things work, come apart, and go back together,” Josh explains. His mom agrees, “He’s the type of individual who if we had something to put together, he would sit down and put it together. I would say, ‘Wait a minute, don’t you have to read the instructions?’ and he’d say ‘No.”

At the age of fifteen, Josh received a 1983 Buick Century sedan from his grandmother. It was an exciting gift, especially for someone mechanically minded; but the Lord seemed to have other plans for the car, and was about to give Josh an exciting opportunity. Josh had been participating in a math class led by an engineer named Steve McElwain. After class one week, Steve approached Josh and asked him if he would be interested in learning Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD) in the future. To do so Josh would have to get set up with a comput­er and learn how to use a CADD pro­gram. Josh said “Yes.”

In April of 1992, Josh sold the car his grandmother had given him and invested the money in a computer. He studied CADD techniques after school every day and completed the tutorial quickly. His diligence was rewarded when another engineer named Brian Seley called and offered him an apprenticeship position in his office. Josh’s pay would be minimal at first because of training he would need, but it would increase incrementally to reflect his increase in skill. Josh’s parents meet with Brian systematically and discuss Josh’s work and make sure that both par­ties are satisfied with the progress being made.

Josh has found that being able to work in a real-life setting has made learning more meaningful and effec­tive. Josh has been kept hopping working for Brian. This summer he’s been work­ing 8- hour days. He has done everything from CADD drawings to office work and manual labor. This after school “paid education” isn’t just a job to Josh; it’s a passion. “I’ve been working steadily most of the sum­mer,” Josh says, “and hope to continue right through the school year, earning money for college.”

As he looks back, Josh can see the major part his parents have played in shap­ing his future. “They have helped me as I showed inter­est in the mechanical world

by tailoring my school sub­jects in that direction, encouraging and helping me as I started, and being a taxi service before I had my license.” He is also thankful his parents chose to home school him since fourth grade. “Home schooling has given me opportunities and freedoms that traditional schools can’t even touch,” Josh says. Josh is now planning to open his own business. His service will be to provide CADD drawings for other engineers. “The engineers that I work for now don’t want to hire me as an ‘employee’ because of the tax mess and social security,” Josh says. “It is more beneficial for me to start my own busi­ness.”

Although the majority of Josh’s time is consumed by his work with engineering, he still finds time for a little “monkey” business - literally! The Horvath family purchased a pair of life-like monkey puppets named Leon and Lydia at the New York State Fair. Josh has two uses for the monkey puppets. First, they’re great for putting people at ease and entertaining young children. Josh worked at a camp for inner city children, and the kids loved them. The second use is not so noble. The monkey puppets are also a great way to bug his little sister. In fact, he and his brother Seth have earned the title “Professional Embarrassers” for their monkeying around.

As a high school senior, Joshua will be taking Calculus 2 & 3 and Physics 3 at a local community col­lege, in addition to his regular studies. After graduation, he hopes to attend Rochester Institute of Technology and major in some area of engineering.

Engineer Brian Seley thinks that Josh “will go far with whatever he puts his mind to”, but Josh knows he owes everything he has done and will do to God. “Everything concerning the jobs I have now I give total and complete glory to God for,” he says.