The Leap of Faith That Changed Everything: How One Week at Carroll Opened the Door to a New Career

At 49 years old, Parker McAllister needed to make a change.

For decades, she had worked physically demanding production jobs, from a textile factory to a salt plant to a flooring manufacturer. The work paid the bills, but it also took a toll. Long hours, strenuous labor, and unpredictable schedules had become the norm. As she approached fifty years of age, she knew she couldn’t keep doing the same work forever.

Then someone mentioned the brand-new Electronic Assembler program at Carroll Community College.

“I was on the fence about it,” Parker recalled. “Can I do it? Should I do it?” Then she realized, “Nothing’s going to change unless I do it.” That’s when she enrolled in the program.

That decision transformed her future.

A Chance Worth Taking

Carroll’s job training opportunities really do change people’s lives. They help people in ways they wouldn’t think are possible.

Parker enrolled in Carroll’s Electronic Assembler program in February 2025, thanks to funding through the Ratcliffe Works scholarship. Without it, she says, college simply wasn’t an option.

“I was living paycheck to paycheck, and I definitely didn’t have the funds to go through it,” she said. With two kids, she also prioritized the cost of their education over hers.

Fortunately, the Ratcliffe Works scholarship covered the full cost of the program, removing the financial barrier that had kept higher education out of reach. “It was a big weight lifted off my shoulders.” she said.

More importantly, it gave Parker something she hadn’t expected: new confidence. “To be able to do this made me feel proud of myself,” she said. “It showed my kids that, no matter what’s going on in your life, you’re still able to do things like that.” More than earning a certification, Parker proved to herself—and to her children—that it’s never too late to start over.

Discovering New Skills

Although the Electronic Assembler program lasts just one week, it packs extensive hands-on learning into five full days. Students spend their time developing precision skills, learning industry standards, and gaining practical experience that prepares them for immediate employment in electronic assembly roles.

For Parker, every aspect of the work was completely new. “I’d never done anything like that,” she said. “I didn’t know what was expected of me or what I’d be walking into.”

She worried about returning to a classroom after decades away from school. She worried about taking tests. Mostly, she worried that she wouldn’t be able to learn an entirely new field.

At Carroll, however, she found an instructor who broke down complex concepts into understandable lessons and patiently guided students through every step. “The instructor was very informative and broke it down into layman’s terms,” Parker said. “He made it a lot easier to understand.”

Parker also discovered she genuinely enjoyed the work.

“It was actually fun!” she said. “Working with the tiny components and soldering under the microscope—I was surprised how interesting it was.”

More importantly, the experience changed how she viewed herself. “It let me know that I can do things outside of my box, outside of what I’m used to,” she said.

Parker completed the program with more than technical skills. She also left with a support network that continued helping her long after the class ended.

Ongoing Support Beyond Graduation

The Electronic Assembler program’s staff—including Center for Innovative Learning Manager Jeremy Roop and Workforce Development Navigator Shahana Mushtaq—regularly checked in with graduates, answered questions, and shared employment opportunities with local employers.

One of those emails Parker received announced an opening with a national defense contractor.

“It was the first job Carroll sent me,” she said. “It was the first and only one I applied for—and I got it!”

Without those connections, Parker isn’t sure she would have even known where to begin. “It made it a lot easier to find a job because I had no idea where to look for one.” The hands-on training also gave her an advantage once she was hired. “It helped prepare me for what to expect,” she said. “I felt Carroll’s training was even more in-depth than the onboarding training I later received at my employer.”

Still Climbing the Ladder

Landing the job wasn’t the end of Parker’s educational journey.

Today, she’s back at Carroll Community College pursuing an Associate degree in Business, a decision inspired by conversations with her supervisors about future advancement opportunities at the company.

By pairing technical expertise with business knowledge, Parker hopes to continue advancing her career while creating even more opportunities for herself.

“If someone told me a few years ago that I’d be working in this field and planning to earn a college degree, I wouldn’t have believed them,” she said.

For anyone who thinks they’re too old, too busy, or too unsure of themselves to go back to school, Parker offers simple advice: “Take a leap of faith and just do it. You can make it work.”

Looking back, she knows that one decision to enroll in Carroll’s Electronic Assembler program changed everything for her. “Carroll’s job training opportunities really do change people’s lives,” she said. “They help people in ways they wouldn’t think are possible.”