When 58-year-old William Cantrell had gastric bypass surgery and lost almost one hundred pounds, he decided to better himself in other ways too – including enrolling at Tri-County Technical College to get an associate degree in Machine Tool Technology. Today, with a 4.0 GPA and as a member of the National Society of Leadership Scholars, he continues to carve out an exciting future for himself.

You say that you graduated high school “by the skin of your teeth” and you never thought college was an option for you. And yet here you are! What did you do in the 30+ years between high school graduation and enrolling in college?

I’ll be quite honest with you – in high school, I just didn’t care. I didn’t feel like I was any good at school back then, and I was often told, “You can’t do this. You can’t do that.”

So from 1985 to 2010, I drove a tractor trailer. Then I got hurt in a bad motorcycle accident and ended up with screws in my arm, screws in my ankle, and rods and screws in my back. I struggled through a lot of years of painful recovery. During that time, I was also overweight, incapable, unable to move around well, and that’s when I decided to get gastric bypass surgery. That made me feel better physically and mentally, and I wanted to continue feeling that way.

I had first started thinking about going back to school in 2015, but I didn’t make up mind until ’21 or ’22! Piedmont Tech offered a certificate in gunsmithing, which is a hobby of mine, so I signed up. I really enjoyed doing the threading, the barrel fitting, all of the machine work with gunsmithing. And I decided, “Hey, I’m doing well with this. Why don’t I continue?”

I researched related programs and really liked what I saw in Tri-County’s Machine Tool Technology program. So I decided to enroll there. And since then, I’ve really been thriving. I’ve made President’s List and Dean’s List. I’ve got a 4.0 GPA. And I’m in the PTK Honor Society and the National Society of Leadership Scholars.

Tell us more about your involvement in the National Society of Leadership Scholars.

NSLS is an organization that recognizes my potential to be a leader. It helps me be a better leader and goes hand in hand with the leadership class I am currently taking. From my participation, I’ve learned how to be a better team player, how to be better organized and more involved, and how to push others to be successful.

I’ve also learned the value of connecting with mentors and asking for help. To begin with, I was reluctant to ask for help. But I’ve found that most of the instructors will bend over backwards to make sure you get everything you need. I’m not a very good writer, but last semester, my Psychology professor met with me once a week in person – even though it was an online class – to help me be successful. Since I’ve got this 4.0, I want to keep it, and that means recognizing when I’m struggling and asking for help when I need it.

I’ve also learned how to speak in front of others and share a little bit of my story with them. The first time I did that, my blood pressure went sky-high! But when it was over, I calmed back down and was able to say with pride, “I did that!” It motivated me to want to continue to share my story and hopefully inspire others to go to a technical college.

After you get your associate degree, what’s next for you?

It’s kind of funny… counting my almost two years of getting my certificate for gunsmithing and now two more years for Machine Tool Technology, I will have been in college for a full four years by the time I graduate. One of my instructors is also talking to me about going on and getting another degree – Manufacturing Management and Leadership – and I’m seriously considering it.

I know how some leaders, especially in the workplace, only care about what’s best for them. But after the examples I’ve had, I would like to be a mentor to others. I want to care about what’s best for the employees and the company all around. As a leader, I want to know who my employees are and what they stand for. And I want them to trust me enough to come to me with their problems so that we can try to fix them together.

I think that’s the biggest thing. I would like for somebody else to look up to me as a respectable leader.

Maybe that’s why I like machining so much. You can take a blank piece of metal and make something out of nothing. Maybe technical college can take somebody like me – never really any good at school, with no college graduates in my family, and a background full of hardship – and help me be an inspiration for somebody else.