15 Minutes with Jesse Montel
Interviewed by Derek Swartzlander
Icon: You graduated from Bluffton in 2019. What have you been doing since then?
I’ve been attending Ohio Northern University studying for a degree in computer science.

What are your goals after you graduate?
Hopefully to get a job as a computer programmer.

What is your number one pet peeve?
Probably when people chew with their mouth open.

If you could travel to any time period in history, when would you choose and why?
I would love to "visit" Spartan culture, however I would quickly like to come back to modern times as Spartans probably would not be the most accepting of some random guy from the future showing up.

What has been your favorite class in school?
My favorite class in school has probably been Data structure and algorithms.

What kind of music do you like to listen to? How do you listen to it?
I listen to all kinds of music. Sometimes rock, sometimes rap, sometimes country I mix in a little of everything. I almost exclusively use Spotify as it is rather inexpensive and has most of the music I listen to.

If you decided to get a tattoo, what would it be? Tell us about it.
I would probably get a meaningful date in roman numerals or a cool portrait of an animal. I would maybe get it on my chest, but I’ve heard that hurts a ton so maybe my forearm.

What is your dream car?
A white Lamborghini Countach; it just looks so fast but is also stylish.

Were there any teachers at Bluffton who inspired you?
Mr. Boblitt definitely helped inspire me to pursue a career in computer science.

Do you have any advice for high schoolers today?
Don’t stress too much about grades, I’m in the same college as people who were #1 in their class with plenty of extracurriculars and I’m in the same college as people who were average in their class didn’t do any extracurriculars and I’ve seen both be equally as successfully because at the end of the day actually learning and understanding the material is way more important than getting an A. 

Thanks for interview. We look forward to seeing where you go.