From farm fields to ocean waters

First raised on a Pickton farm, Carrson Pearce picked up the sport of sailing at the age of seven and quickly made a name for himself as he competed in international competitions, picking a bronze medal in the 2016 Youth Worlds in Auckland, Australia.

Now 22, Carrson recently graduated as the valedictorian of the 2021 class at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N. Y. and secured a Third Officer position on a military replenishment ship.

“It was definitely the hardest four years of my life, and it was also the most rewarding four years in my life,” Carrson said. “Kings Point really puts you through a lot of trials academically and physically.”

Carrson is the son of Angie and Dixon Pearce and the grandson of Carolyn and David Carr and Ken and Charlene Youngblood, and for the first half of his life, he grew up in Pickton and had been homeschooled.

“When he arrived at the Merchant Marine Academy, that was his first real classroom in a teaching environment other than our home,” Angie Pearce said.

Just being accepted into the academy is a huge honor. Applicants must be nominated by their US congressman or senator, and Carrson said the nomination process includes interviews and can be competitive. Since his family had moved to Manahawkin, N. J. after living in Pickton, he was nominated by Sen. Bob Menendez.

At Kings Point, he took to the new environment in stride, making friends and connections as he went, and Angie said that once Carrson sets a goal (like being valedictorian), very little will stand in his way. He is also dedicated to ministry and led the Men’s Bible Fellowship at Kings Point.

“He just tries to make friends everywhere he goes,” Angie Pearce said, adding Carrson had recently received the national Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award from the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association. “He just made so friends on the water and was a good team leader.”

While enrolled at Kings Point, Carrson had the opportunity during his sophomore year to travel along the US East Coast and Europe’s west coast on a container ship as the first part of the academy’s Sea Year.

“That was my first time on a ship,” Carrson said. “It was a completely new experience, figuring out what it was all about and learning the basics of navigation and being a ship’s officer.”

In the second part of his Sea Year during junior year, Carrson was onboard a military replenishment vessel with Military Sealift Command (MSC) based out of Guam that would drop supplies to US submarines or other vessels deployed in the region. “That was an incred

“That was an incredible experience, working with the Navy and learning how to replenish them while underway,” Carrson said. “It’s really good to experience the different cultures and see all the history in all of these different countries.”

Now graduated, MSC offered Carrson a job as a ship’s third officer where he will work as a part of his obligation to the academy. Kings Point graduates either need to serve five years of active duty in any part of the military or work five years in the US maritime industry and serve eight years as an officer in any reserve unit of the military.

“For people who don’t know what they want to do yet or haven’t decided what career choice they want, Kings Point is the perfect option because you have four years to choose,” Carrson said.

Carrson’s end goal is to become a harbor pilot, maneuvering ships into port along the coast. He said being commercial pilot can be mean being gone for months at a time, but harbor pilots stay closer to home.

“The idea of still being able work on ships and still being home a lot to be with my family seems like the perfect balance for me,” Carrson said. “It’s kind of like the dream career for everyone in the industry.”

Because of that, every spot is highly sought-after, and it requires many years of experience and passing a tough exam. Carrson wants to start preparing early, but for now, he’s excited to jump into work.

“It’s a little scary because when we go out as cadets, you have no responsibility, no liability in all of it, and now you have a career on the line,” Carrson said. “It’s stressful, but I’m really excited.”