The Night the Apprentice Stayed Late to Prove Himself
His name was Jake, and he was maybe nineteen years old. Fresh out of a two-year trade program at the local community college, green as they come, and eager — almost too eager. He’d been with us for about three months, and every day he showed up fifteen minutes early and stayed fifteen minutes late just to absorb everything he could. He had that hungry look in his eye, the one that says “I want to be good at this more than anything.” ...