For Jackson Taylor, senior year didn’t just mark the end of high school — it marked the start of a career.

After spending two years in the Information Technology program at the Nelson County Area Technology Center, Jackson landed a job as a field technician with what is now Spectrum. While most students are still figuring out what comes next, Jackson already knows. He’s doing it.

“I’m not supervised much,” Jackson says. “They give me a list and trust me to get it done. That kind of responsibility — and independence — means a lot.”

It wasn’t always this clear. Early in high school, Jackson says he didn’t have a strong sense of direction. “I was just kind of floating—seeing what stuck,” he says. “I didn’t take things seriously at first.”

That changed when he found something that made sense — and someone who believed in him. Charlie Cantrill, his instructor at the ATC, saw Jackson’s potential early. While most work-based learning opportunities were reserved for seniors, Mr. Cantrill pushed to get Jackson in the door as a junior.

“We were ahead of the class, so he just let us go,” Jackson recalls. “He’d say, ‘Figure it out. Explore it.’ One day, he said, ‘You’re beyond the curriculum. You’re ready for the real world.’”

That vote of confidence made a lasting impact.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel ready,” Jackson admits. “But knowing that he thought I could do it gave me the confidence to try — and that’s what got me here.”

Now, Jackson handles installations, service calls, fiber optic networks, and customer support — often on his own. He plans to stay with Spectrum full-time after graduation.

“I’ve done all this without college, and I’m just finishing high school,” he says. “I feel like I’m doing pretty well for myself.”

His story is a powerful reminder that purpose doesn’t always follow a traditional path — and it doesn’t always wait for a degree.

Whether climbing poles, solving technical issues, or explaining services to customers, Jackson brings a strong sense of accountability to his work. “If something needs to get done, I’ll get it done,” he says. “I don’t give up.”

Ask him to describe himself in one word, and he chooses resilient. Ask him how others might describe him, and he grins. “Probably silly. But smart, too,” he says. “People hear what I do and say, ‘That sounds hard.’”

It is. But Jackson’s found his place in it — not just because he’s good at the job, but because it means something to him. He knows what it feels like to be trusted, to work hard, and to find real-world success in a field he never expected.

And that’s what purpose looks like.