“To be honest, I didn’t know what the future held for me when I started the program [Mechatronics],” Jermiah Brown Jr. said about starting the Mechatronics program at Enterprise State Community College. “I felt that I was on the right path when I started, but which door it would lead to, I truly did not know. Faith is powerful.”

Originally from New York, Brown began his college career at Florida A&M University, where he pursued a Mechanical Engineering degree. After a series of life changes led him to Alabama, he found himself starting over relying on faith, community support, and determination to rebuild.

After enrolling at Enterprise State Community College and transferring the classes he had already completed, Brown earned his associate of science degree and started pursuing a bachelor’s degree. Family and life responsibilities eventually led him to step away from school. As a husband and father, he worked a variety of jobs, including with the U.S. Postal Service and as a refueler at Fort Rucker.

“Times were tough, but we were blessed and were making it,” he said.

Years later, while pursuing his CDL license, Brown was encouraged to explore programs offered at ESCC’s Ozark campus. This was a decision that would change his path and his life.

“When I went to the Ozark campus, I inquired about the A&P program, but it was that day when I was introduced to something that I was not expecting,” he said. “Although this was my first time hearing about such a program, I was immediately interested in it, because some of its origins tied back to what I attended FAMU for years prior. I applied with ESCC and soon came to know what this Mechatronics was all about.”

Brown began the program in January 2021 while balancing work, personal responsibilities and family, including raising six children. With an unpredictable work schedule as a refueler, the program’s flexible scheduling format made it possible for him to continue.

“My times to work as a part-time refueler were not guaranteed and my proposed schedule was subject to change from day to day and in a moment’s notice,” Brown said. “This made committing to my proposed school schedule challenging, but the flexible scheduling aided this. As long as the lab was open and that class was being offered, I could attend class and get my work done.”

He also said his instructors played a big role in his success in the program.

“The instructors were patient,” he said. “I remember Mr. Anthony Hanson trying to teach me to understand impedance of AC circuits. It was tough but eventually, things started to click and make sense. Mrs. Aubri Hanson was sensitive to my situation and aided me both in academic advising and instructionally in the classroom.”

“I had to come into the program willing to pour my portion of what I could bring to the classroom, and my instructors offered to me what they could bring on the same playing field.”

Brown joined the team as a lab assistant in February 2022, just a few months before he graduated in May. By August 2022, he transitioned into a full-time instructor role within the Mechatronics program.

“I never expected to be employed with ESCC,” he said. “Teaching has been a part of me for a long time, and I felt being an instructor with the college gave me the benefit of doing the things I was blessed and gifted to do.”

Today, Brown teaches students in the same program that helped shape his future.

“To teach students in the program means a lot,” he said. “This program, being as technical as it is, can be very challenging and not seem accomplishable to students. That is why, as an instructor in this program, I would like students to know that they can do this. I am a product of it myself.”

The Mechatronics program gives students hands-on training for careers in automation, manufacturing, and industrial technology, preparing them for fulfilling, high-demand careers.

“Students who complete this program have very high chances of being hired in careers they can be successful in,” Brown said.

Brown’s story reflects the impact of opportunity, persistence, and hands-on learning.

“To have a program like this in our area means opportunity,” he said.