LaDonna Glass, who decided to pursue an apprenticeship as an electrician after one year at Mississippi State, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on June 25.

LaDonna Glass, 23, who decided to pursue an apprenticeship as an electrician after one year at Mississippi State University, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on June 25.

PHOTO: ANDREA MORALES/NYTIMES

Callie Holtermann

Published Jul 26, 2026, 10:05 AM

Updated Jul 26, 2026, 10:23 AM

JONESBORO, Arkansas – At the edge of a parking lot in the Arkansas Delta, LaDonna Glass slipped off her work boots and exchanged them for a pair of rainbow Crocs.

Glass, 23, had just finished her shift as an electrician apprentice in a veterinary school building across the lot. She snaked conduits among electrical boxes and installed wall sockets in an operating room big enough for a horse.

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