Change Starts Here

Like many young people, it took some time for Maraleius Birdsong to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He left Ft. Dorchester High School before graduating and moved back to his hometown in Indiana to stay with his grandmother. He worked, bought a car and got an apartment. Later, he moved back to North Charleston and earned his GED. He enrolled at Trident Tech in the fall of 2011. While delivering pizza to pay for school, he took classes to pursue his goal of becoming an electrical engineer. Maraleius was a good student and often helped his fellow students outside of class. His dream was to work for a large company in the area like Bosch, Boeing or GE.  Chuck Ackland, who was the coordinator of the Electrician: Automation and Industrial program at the time, said the program was challenging and had an enrollment which tended to get smaller as the semester went on.  Ackland noticed something unique about Birdsong right away. “He always sat front-row center," he said. &q