It’s ironic that Matthew Brett works as an electrical engineer for Hitachi Rail, since it took him a while to get his life on the right track. Yet for Brett the long journey was all worth it in the end.

Brett, 33, of Roslyn, is a 2020 Montgomery County Community College graduate who majored in Engineering Science. Yet, he first enrolled at MCCC as a Liberal Studies major in the fall of 2006 after graduating from St. Joseph's Preparatory School that same year.

“I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do,” he said.

Brett grew up homeschooled until he got to high school and was still adjusting to the classroom setting when it came time to apply to college.

“I do not think I was comfortable as a traditional classroom student. I was conditioned to learn individually and at my own pace,” he said. “I was always strong in the math and sciences departments, but I would often dig myself into a hole early on if the material didn’t click right away”

MCCC felt like a good way to ease into a more traditional academic environment for him.

“I don’t believe I should have pursued colleges along the traditional timeline. That’s why Montco was such an important place for me,” he said. “I had more things to work on that a traditional four-year college couldn’t help me with.”

Additionally, Brett couldn’t afford tuition for a four-year institution but thought he could pay his way through a year at MCCC. After his first year at the College, Brett decided to transfer to a four-year institution. He found himself gravitated toward engineering; unfortunately, his new school didn’t offer an engineering program. He lasted a semester before leaving.

Brett got a part-time job to save up to go back to school. Then life got in the way. A series of personal mistakes derailed his momentum. He’d saved enough money to reenroll at MCCC, but “I still wasn’t mature enough,” he said.

“(Math Assistant Professor) Brandon Klarman helped me during a very tumultuous time in my life. I had never had strong relationships with teachers before, probably because I was an independent learner my whole life,” said Brett. “But his understanding and willingness to work with me during it all was the first time I felt like I didn’t have to do it alone.”

Slowly Brett worked on bettering himself. He passed Klarman’s Calculus I class and went on to Math Assistant Professor Gary Winchester’s Calculus II class.

“He treated me like an individual rather than just another student,” said Brett. “After my experience with Klarman, I began to utilize the teachers as resources and saw them as more than just authority figures. Winchester’s door was always open, and I felt comfortable asking for help. He would even allow students to study in his office in case we had any questions. He fostered my growing confidence and helped me look at school in a different light. Today I consider him a friend and I was very lucky to have him as my teacher at that point in my life.”

Brett set a goal to transfer to a new four-year school with an engineering program and Winchester worked with him every day to earn the passing grade he’d need to achieve that goal.

By 2015, the work paid off and he was able to transfer for a year and a half to the new institution. Unfortunately, it became too expensive to continue studying there and Brett was forced to drop out again.

“I probably shouldn’t have left Montco before I graduated,” he said.

After going back to work to save money, he reenrolled again at MCCC and got the tough love he felt he needed from Engineering Professor William Brownlowe.

“Brownlowe could tell that I was serious about my aspirations,” he said. “I first met him as my instructor in an Intro to Engineering course. Even though he can be considered a difficult professor, I still wanted to enroll in his linear engineering course. I trusted he was the professor to prepare me for the next stage of my life and my career. I had built enough confidence after my time with Winchester and challenged myself to keep up with the class.”

Brownlowe instilled in him that there’s more to engineering than what can be found in books, but you still have to do the work, and there are consequences to making a mistake. “He was a good professor for me at the time,” said Brett.

The Engineering program also opened the doors to new experiences and opportunities for Brett through coops, including as a transmission planning engineer at PJM Interconnection, field engineer at TC Electric, and radio frequency engineer at Crown Castle.

“Energy Transmission was more political than I had hoped,” he said. “I decided to pivot to see what else engineering had to offer. Professor Brownlowe’s courses showed me what engineering offered.”

Today, with an associate’s degree under his belt, Brett said he plans to transfer back to the second four- year institution he previously attended and earn a bachelor’s degree. In the meantime, he’s working as a testing and commissioning engineer with Hitachi Rail. The company is currently involved in a communications-based train control project on SEPTA’s Media/Sharon Hill line. While Brett will be the first to admit that many of the mistakes he made in life were due to his own poor decisions, he’s proud that he’s back on track and has turned a corner.

“It took me longer to get to a certain point than other people and that’s OK,” he said. “Montco made it OK. Just because I didn't follow the same blueprint as others, didn't mean I wouldn't make it. It was hard at times. But they still accepted me for who I was. Montco helped me focus on my dream and move forward to achieve it.”