THE APPRENTICESHIP THAT SAVED MY LIFE

Maryland state Sen. McCray combines a personal account with an instruction manual, building a case for apprenticeships in financially disadvantaged communities.

Across 11 chapters, the author presents episodes from his troubled youth in Baltimore with clear guidance on apprenticeships. He explains how his own time as an apprentice with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers labor union paved the way for his later success as an electrician, entrepreneur, and state legislator—first as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2019, and as a state senator since 2019. McCray frames his book as an “intentional disruption of a failing system”; in it, he advocates for practical, hands-on education that can have immediate financial benefits. Raised in East Baltimore, McCray spent his teenage years selling drugs and cycling through various schools and juvenile facilities. When he found an apprenticeship, however, he knew that “in an instant, a much better way to earn and learn appeared.” Each chapter begins with a difficult moment from his youth—fighting, aimlessly drifting through school, having brushes with gun violence—before discussing how he transformed the lessons he learned into positive traits. He recounts how union mentors and instructors taught him professionalism and investment strategies, and each section strives to provide direct advice, concluding with lesson checklists that range from the importance of getting a driver’s license to how to prepare for interviews. The book also offers detailed financial breakdowns of investments that are within anyone’s reach. Later chapters aim to help readers to identify beneficial programs and explain policy changes that the author has pursued as a legislator to expand them.

McCray’s work succeeds, in large part, due to his straightforward, accessible style. He writes with a clarity that makes complex systems feel approachable, and his critique of the “suffocating debt” of four-year colleges and presentation of trades as viable paths to success puts a broad policy debate at the heart of the book, which will attract readers interested in education issues. McCray writes directly to young people who grew up in difficult situations, and he’s strikingly forthcoming as he revisits the hardest parts of his own past, recounting violent encounters, robberies, and the ins and outs of Baltimore’s most notorious drug market. When he casually references “members of a gang that I was beefing with,” it feels like lived experience, not like the bromides of a politician, which gives his encouragement extra heft. At times, sudden transitions between the stories and the instructional passages result in a choppy reading experience: “The ways that people get into and out of the drug game are different for everyone. Similarly, the doors to apprenticeships can be different.” Still, the book’s consistently matter-of-fact tone never feels artificial; instead, it allows for the clear delivery of strong, practical solutions, as well as actionable advice to put those solutions to use. There’s also a detailed list of further resources available nationwide, and a breakdown, by industry, of various apprenticeships with potential.

A candid, practical, and often inspiring guidebook.