Courtesy of Ray Khuhro

Khuhro participated in band during his high school years, playing drums and cymbals. The band used to wear red and black uniforms with a cowboy-style hat instead of the current blue and black uniforms. “The uniforms were pretty embarrassing,” Khuhro said. “They were pretty hot too. Practice starts in August and we’d have to practice during the day.”

Alumnus Ray Khuhro has loved cars for so long, he can not even remember exactly when he first became interested in them.

“A love of cars is just something boys are born with a lot,” Khuhro said. “I had a several dozen matchbox cars. My dad really likes cars too, which probably influenced me somewhat.”

His love of cars did not end with his childhood, as it does with some children. He continued learning about cars in auto mechanic and shop classes in high school.

“They actually had a couple of cars you could work on. It was just the basics: changing tires and stuff like that,” Khuhro said.

After graduating high school in 1993, Khuhro invested in his first brand new car, a black Honda Civic when he was only 19.

“My favorite car is my Civic,” Khuhro said. “I lowered it with lowering springs and changed the wheels. I changed the headlights; they are called projector headlights, little round headlights. It was older and didn’t have those, so I changed those since I liked projectors better,” Khuhro said.

His dream car is a 1960s Jaguar E. If he owned the car, he would only do simple renovations.

“Classic cars should be restored to how they were back in the day. There are millions of the same new cars, like Camrys are all the same cars out there. It’s fine to make them different and unique, but there aren’t many classics around, so they should be left the way they are,” he said.

However, vehicle upkeep is increasingly expensive nowadays. A simple lowering kit can cost $200. Yet, this is not even the hardest part.

“The hardest part is diagnosing a problem, especially with new cars that are computerized with sensors. It’s not hard to fix a car; it’s just hard to figure out what is actually wrong and needs to be fixed,” Khuhro said.

But in the end, the sense of peace that cars bring Khuhro goes beyond the cost of the work.

“I just like spending time on them,” Khuhro said. “It’s a hobby and I find it relaxing to be alone and away from everybody else. You can zone out and meditate and get lost in your own world.”