Sparks have been flying in the Great Falls College welding shop as second-year welding student Bryan Johnson and first-year student Isabella “Izzy” Houge have fallen in love … with car racing.
Oh, yeah, they also have been dating for a few months while racing to get ready for the upcoming season at the Electric City Speedway and graduation.
For Johnson, it will be his third season as a driver, and Houge will be a rookie.
Johnson, who started as a dual enrollment student at Great Falls College last year when he was a senior at Power High School, is set to graduate with an associate of applied science degree in Welding, and Houge, a current dual enrollment student, will receive a certificate of applied science.
They said they knew of each other before Houge joined the Welding program at the college in the fall, but their relationship was forged in the shop when they bonded over their love of welding and cars.
They met when Johnson became a student-instructor to help first-year students.
“It was kind of different going from graduating high school to going into college and then helping be kind of an assistant teacher,” Johnson said. Helping new students who were “at the same spot that I was last year” turned out to be “really rewarding,” he said.
Houge found her passion for welding when she was a sophomore attending Worlds of Work at Great Falls College and the University of Providence. The event, put on by Central Montana Works in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Cascade County, is designed to give students hands-on experience in a wide range of career fields.
Welding lit a fire in Houge immediately.
“I welded for the very first time (at Worlds of Work),” she said. “I always knew I liked hands‑on work. I love this so much. I just want to do this for the rest of my life.”
She enrolled in the dual enrollment program at Great Falls College this past year to fuel that love.
“It’s just super cool,” she said. “… I’ll have a certificate in welding a couple weeks before I even walk the stage (for graduating high school from Paris Gibson Education Center).” 
Houge plans to continue and complete the second year of the welding program.
Johnson said it’s well worth it.
“You get to do a lot more, like wide variety of things, like you get to weld on aluminum, pipe and get to do a little bit of brazing, too,” he said. “Getting through the first year and getting to the second year is well worth it.”
Core classes also prove beneficial
Both Johnson and Houge said the core classes at the college also have been very beneficial.
In fact, Houge was honored as the Communication, Arts and Humanities Student of the Year.
Houge said the class directly helped her secure racing sponsorships.
“I told Dr. Amy Pearson this—her (communications) class helped me go into businesses and ask for sponsors because I was really scared to do that,” she said. “Before I even got my car, I went into like four places and asked them for sponsors… that class definitely helped me a lot.”
Great Falls College sponsors both Johnson and Houge’s cars, as well as alum Dan Harvey, who is racing two cars this year.
Strong shop culture
Both students speak highly of their instructors.
Johnson said welding instructor Todd Reser saw potential in him early. “He really helped me out a lot,” Johnson said. “Not the welding—just the way he stuck to his morals.
Houge said Reser made an impression even before classes began. “He wanted to meet everybody and see where they were at in life,” she said.
As a young woman entering a male‑dominated trade, Houge said she has never felt singled out or treated differently in the Great Falls College welding shop.
“There’s no discrimination,” said Houge, who is one of six women in her cohort. “He doesn’t treat any of us differently than the guys.”
She said instructors check in on her work, offer help when needed and hold her to the same expectations as every other student. “I think all the instructors are really nice,” she said. “I really like them.”
As for her classmates?
“The guys tease me, but I tease them back,” she said.
Looking ahead
Johnson hopes to eventually run his own business so he can stay close to the racing world.
“Obviously with my racing and stuff … I figured the best way is to kind of follow in the footsteps of other racers. Big time racers, they have their own businesses and that allows them to make enough money to support their family, have a nice house, have a good career doing something that you enjoy doing and also have plenty of money on the side to support a racing program.”
Houge is still exploring her options for once she graduates with an associate of applied science a year from now.
“Career‑wise, I have no clue,” she said. “At least I know that I want to weld.”
And race.
For Houge, stepping onto the track this season is a way of honoring her family’s racing tradition while carving out her own lane in the sport.
Both of her parents and grandfather raced cars in the timed events at the fairgrounds for years.
“My mom and dad both raced cars, and my grandpa did too… but I didn’t want to do the timed races. I wanted to be up against cars at the same time,” she said.
As for that career thing?
“You don’t have to have your whole life figured out at 18,” Johnson said, looking at Izzy. “I didn’t. I just knew I liked welding and racing, and that was enough to get me started.”