Student snapshot

Joshua Williams

Hometown: Dudley, North Carolina
Class: Junior
Major: Engineering, concentration in electrical engineering
Career goals: To work on medical devices or with prosthetics

Joshua Williams may not be taking the fast lane toward an engineering degree, but the junior knows he’s on the right road.

After financial difficulties derailed his first attempt at college in 2006, he worked odd jobs and drove trucks for about 5 1/2 years before asking himself some questions.

“Where am I supposed to be going? What direction am I supposed to be going in? I know I have purpose, but I just don’t know what to do,” he said. “I want to chase purpose instead of money.”

He says his wife, Sara, motivated him to attend Wayne Community College. While there, he was accepted into ECU’s PIRATES engineering scholarship program.

“It has been a huge help and relief so that way I don’t have to work as hard outside of school to be able to take care of what I need to in school,” he said.

With an electrical engineering concentration, Williams wants to work in the medical field.

“This world is bigger than me, and my life is bigger than me, and I just want to be able to help others and expand on my purpose,” he said.

He sees a comparison between driving a truck and his education.

“In a truck, you’ve got to stay in your lane and stay focused on what you’re doing to get to your goal, and I feel like in engineering, you need to do the same thing,” he said.

He’s a member of the Phi Sigma Pi honor society.

“I’m just a simple guy, and I’m just trying to make an impact on the world the best that I can because I love to help people,” he said. “I just like to see people happy.”