William Trevor “Trey” Carroll ’09 traveled a circuitous route to settle on his career. Along this path, he experienced a surprising health challenge that diverted his course but helped him choose his life’s work. He now helps individuals find a more direct way to a satisfying occupation.
At Jackson Academy, Carroll was a well-rounded student who caught the attention of fellow students and faculty. “He was one of those kids that is so charming, so charismatic, driven, highly motivated, who had everything going for him,” said English teacher Sandra McKay. “Students and adults listened to him. What he said was thoughtful and had merit.” He was a nominee for Mr. JA, voted Most Charming, elected a senior class representative, and served on the Rowdy spirit team. McKay also remembers what a good writer he was in her English classes.
Carroll changed his college major five times at the University of Mississippi. After earning a degree in English, he worked in ministry, non-profits, and education, serving as an admissions counselor for the University of Mississippi. “I had a lot of different passions, and I didn’t know what to do with them.” Still unsure, he sought out career assessments and landed on The Birkman Method.
“It changed my life,” Carroll said. The Birkman Method measures characteristics that affect behaviors, motivations, and perceptions, helping predict behavior and why it occurs.
Although he better understood what career path would be most satisfying, Carroll encountered a significant setback. He had a stroke at age 28. The stroke resulted from a basilar artery dissection, a rare inside artery wall tear.
Rather than exploring his career, Carroll was now reimagining his life. For the first week, he had no movement in his left side. After a month, Carroll walked with a Mississippi Methodist Rehabilitation Center therapist’s assistance using a gait belt. Six months later, he could walk on his own about 200 yards before he needed to rest.
During this trying season, he revisited his Birkman results. “If I cannot work my regular job, what will I do?” he wondered. The Birkman Method interested him so much that he pursued a certification in it. He began helping college and high school students, like the 30 in JA’s new life skills electives, pinpoint their majors and careers and understand what makes them tick.
During the fall of 2021, Carroll taught a portion of JA’s new Upper School electives Back to Basics and The Curated Life. The electives smooth the transition from high school to young adult life. Subjects include resume and interview skills, personal finance, career assessment, caring for home and property, and family life skills – to name a few.
“The syllabus is so much fun,” said Director of Counseling Paula Pratt. “It poses those questions that all of us wish we had learned in high school.”
Senior Molly McClure said one of the assignments in the life skills elective asked that specifically. “We were told to interview JA faculty and ask them what they wished someone had told them before college, what they had wanted to be growing up, and what they ended up doing,” Molly said. Among the answers was the advice to be open to changing career aspirations while in college.
Under Carroll’s guidance, Molly said she and her classmates completed assessments that evaluated job interests, what students think of themselves, and how students believe others perceive them. Timed brain teasers helped students see how their brains work best.
Carroll gave students individual assessment results then reviewed results with parents. Next year, JA will expand this program, offering The Birkman Method assessments to the entire grade rather than just those who choose life skills electives.
Caroll believes what high school students need most in career planning is help knowing what careers are available, such as how engineering applies to so many career fields. Other times, he finds that affirmation is what students need. Simply having an objective person affirm a natural gift can be an epiphany for a student.
Carroll’s senior quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson seems to echo throughout his journey since graduating: “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.” He credits his knack for making trails visible to others to his own inability to figure out his ideal career. That struggle, coupled with perspectives gained from his illness, makes him more able to relate to others’ uncertainty. “My personal story is one of the biggest advantages to helping others,” he said. “I had to figure it out, so I know what others are experiencing when they do not know.”
