Sophomore mechanical engineering major Raymond Johns interned at Six Flags Great America this past summer. 

When sophomore mechanical engineering major Raymond Johns recently signed back into his childhood Steam gaming account, he noticed one game had far more hours logged than any other: Rollercoaster Tycoon, an amusement park ride design game. It felt symbolic because Johns had recently completed an internship as a unit supervisor at Six Flags Great America, testing roller coasters and other rides for safety before welcoming customers for the day. 

For Johns, being the first rider of the day wasn’t just a perk of the job; it was his responsibility. As a unit supervisor, he was tasked with performing safety checks on three different rides within the park every day, running them first without riders, and then riding them himself once the checks were complete. 

“Ever since I was young, I’ve played with trains,” he said. “And then, as I got into elementary school, it morphed into building roller coaster sets, and that started my fascination with designing roller coasters.” 

Although Johns is still deciding on his career, his love of engineering and all things that go comes from a combination of interests. “I kind of just think engineering is a great way of combining an interest in math and science and, like, actually getting to create something interesting,” he said. 

To begin his ascent into the world of roller coaster engineering, Johns applied for internships at every amusement ride company he could find. Being from California and going to school in Philadelphia, he was open to interning in any region of the country. While he didn’t get accepted during his first round of applications, he received valuable advice from several of the companies: get as much experience working in theme parks as you can. Any position would do, as the goal was really just to see the parks’ inner workings and understand how they run. 

From there, Johns sent between 30 and 40 applications to the Six Flags career site for jobs around the country. He received three acceptances and ultimately chose his internship as a unit supervisor. In that position, he learned what made the rides fun, but also what made them good choices to have in a theme park. “If you create a ride that’s, like, really fun to ride, or it looks really interesting, but it’s awful to operate, or it’s awful to maintain, no park is going to want to buy it,” he said. 

He also spent a day shadowing the maintenance team. This meant getting to the park at 5 a.m., and beyond the safety checks Johns was used to, conducting additional checks on the structure, wheels, cars—everything to ensure the rides were in top working order. 

After completing the internship, Johns said the roller coaster industry seems all the more enticing. For now, though, he is enjoying pursuing a wide range of interests here at Temple—including playing in the Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble and studying abroad at Temple Rome. 

“Raymond is a perfect example of what Temple Honors students are all about—finding your intellectual passion and pursuing it relentlessly,” said Honors Program Director Amanda Neuber. “I will be first in line at whatever roller coaster he engineers in the future!”