As every student who walks through the doors of UTI is unique, so is the journey that got them there.

For Jerome Jackson, he didn't set out to be a forklift mechanic. But there are those surprise moments when one's future reveals itself. And for Jerome Jackson it was the day that a tech came to repair the Crown forklift at the warehouse he worked at.

"I noticed how proper he was, how professional he was. It was a great experience with that tech. Most techs want to get it done and get it over with, but he took the time to explain what he was doing and how to keep it running better."

Working in the warehouse was a good job, but growing up had an interest in working on things, which he didn’t get to do in this position. He had always worked on cars, and even spent some time as a mechanic in a high performance shop in Missouri. When that service tech from Crown came down to work on one of their forklifts it was then when he knew what he wanted to be.

He found his way. Now he has the position of service tech at Crown and manages a national account. He's responsible for the mandating of 140 forklifts. He’s the guy who makes sure that they're maintained and operating at a high level. Without someone taking care of these forklifts they run less efficient and have problems. This decreases productivity, which affects the bottom line. His responsibility is huge and he takes pride in the making sure that his fleet of forklifts is running smoothly.

UTI was the bridge between being a warehouse worker to the life he has today. He graduated from the Dallas campus in 2015.

“I attended UTI for automotive but specifically I liked to work on forklifts because of my time working in the warehouse, I actually aimed for this job out of UTI.”

And Jerome never lost this ambition and was persistent. So much so that he attended two jobs fairs for Crown, giving them his resume not once, but twice. It was this drive that helped him land this job as well as pushed him through his education.

Along with graduating with honors, keeping an attendance of 99% and focusing on the electrical side of things, he also appreciated the attention and education he got from his UTI instructors.

“They really focused on whatever your areas of study were. If you were studying electrical they would show you how voltage moves through paths, tracing wiring paths and other important things. That was really helpful.”

Along with the technical education he received, he learned the lesson of how to be a professional, one of the major things he was impressed with by the forklift tech who visited his warehouse that fateful day.

“UTI was highly focused on professionalism, everything from how you presented yourself in person, to how you presented yourself on your resume.”

It’s this dedication to professionalism that has served him well as a tech at Crown. It’s never the managers or service people who meet with customers. It’s the techs. And Crown holds them to a high level.

In retrospect Jerome Jackson’s career path makes sense. He loved mechanics and was fascinated by the electrical systems of machinery. The fact that he’s a forklift tech today isn’t a huge surprise. But for Jerome this wasn’t an obvious career trajectory.

But in life, sometimes there needs to be a spark, a moment of inspiration that lights up the unseen path. Jerome saw that in the work and professionalism of the Crown tech who came to the warehouse he worked at. And this pushed him to attend UTI and brought him to where he is today.

Just think – as a professional tech, you could be that person to inspire someone to take the first step in changing their life.