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This teen used state lottery-funded scholarships to get into trade school and get a job

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3 months ago

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This teen used state lottery-funded scholarships to get into trade school and get a job

In addition to trade school tuition, Brayden Carroll had enough left over scholarship money to buy tools he needed for his first job

His papaw worked on cars his whole life, and East Tennessee teenager Brayden Carroll figured a mechanics job would give him stability and a regular paycheck for a long time.

“Everybody uses machines,” Carroll said, shrugging.

So Carroll, 19, of Elizabethton, Tenn., decided after high school, he would go to a nearby trade school and learn how to fix off-road diesel engines. Farm equipment, lawnmowers, that kind of thing.

But he wasn’t sure how to pay for it. His mom lives mostly off disability and his military veteran dad works in a factory, and they didn’t have much in savings.

After filling out financial aid forms at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) in Elizabethton, Carroll got good news — on top of getting all tuition covered, he got hundreds extra each semester for whatever else he needed.

Most of the scholarships came from Tennessee Lottery proceeds, which have funded more than two million scholarships since the lottery launched in 2004

Turns out Carroll needed that extra money each semester to start building his own supply of tools.

Carroll finished the two-year TCAT program in April, and a teacher helped him get a job at a local farm supply company putting together new pieces of farm equipment from the factory and fixing old equipment that’s still under warrantly.

To land that job, though, Carroll needed to have hundreds of dollars of his own equipment, which he bought with his leftover scholarship money.

“It really really helped,” his mother, Candice Carroll, said. “I would’ve had to get another job to pay for [the tools].”

Carroll now is several months into a job he loves, one that provides health insurance and a 401(K) savings plan.

“I love coming in every morning,” he said. “The people are nice and the pay is decent. I can’t complain at all.”

Reach Brad Schmitt at brad@tennessean.com or 615-259-8384.

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