Caleb Mercer is Prepared to Take Ownership

Balancing the competing needs of academics, athletics, and employment, Caleb Mercer’s academic career is a testament to the power of preparation. “I learned how valuable preparation was through my time playing sports in high school,” recalls Mercer, who in high school was both a varsity letter athlete and honors student. He has continued this run of excellence in college, maximizing his limited time by studying in short stretches throughout the day.

Although he balances the demands of being a dean’s list student and a custodian to pay for tuition, Mercer still finds time to give to the local community. Mercer works with local food access drives such as the Springfield Ruritan Food Give-away and Student Council Food Drive. In addition, Mercer utilizes his long career as an athlete to provide Little League coaching to the Springfield Township Baseball Association and helping with other community sports leagues throughout the region.

Mercer’s father, an employee of the RTO-industry, provided ample examples of the importance of engaging with people on a personal level. When working for Eagle Rental Purchase, the elder Mercer encountered Gazmond, an Albanian immigrant who supported a family of ten with his factory employment. After Gazmond was laid off from his manufacturing job, Mercer’s father and Eagle Rental Purchase worked with Gazmond to ensure he kept the appliances that made his family’s life possible. The act of personal engagement eventually had more tangible benefits. “You can tell how much it meant to him at the time based on him coming back to the store, and recommending Eagle Rental Purchase to people,” recalls Mercer.

Mercer is a member of the 2018 cohort receiving funding from the APRO Education Foundation’s Scholarship Fund. He is among a group of 47 students given over $110,000 worth from APRO and state rental dealer associations in Florida, Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. The APRO Education Foundation Scholarship Fund’s mission of helping futures leaders take ownership of their dreams is only possible thanks to the generosity of our donors. Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you will take a moment to support the next group of emerging leaders from our RTO-family by donating today.