Instructor Stephen Tracey examines work being done on an HVAC system by students in his Building Automation Technology class. (Matthew Burns/Wake Tech)

From the time he was in middle school, Stephen Tracey dreamed of being a meteorologist and helping people understand the weather. Instead, he's built a career on helping them deal with the heat and the cold inside their homes and businesses.

Tracey earned a bachelor's degree in meteorology from North Carolina State University, but his timing couldn't have been worse, graduating during the depths of the Great Recession.

"Job prospects went from great to nothing," he said. "I needed five years of experience to get any sort of job."

But he couldn't help noticing the number of openings advertised at the time for air conditioning and heating system installation, maintenance and repair technicians. He had taken a couple of skilled trades classes in high school, but he says he never viewed that as a viable career path.

"My high school counselor discouraged me from that," he said, shaking his head. "It irritates me that people think it's a step down. I look at a skilled trade and a bachelor's degree as pretty even."

In search of a job, the new college graduate went back to school – this time at Wake Tech to earn an Associate in Applied Science degree in Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Technology (AHR).

Tracey worked for about six years as an HVAC technician, enduring stifling hot attics and braving crawl spaces full of spiders and other critters. Then, one day in early 2018, he stopped by Wake Tech to say hello to AHR Program Director Jimmy Freeman, who immediately recruited him to fill an opening after an instructor had left.

"It was four-and-a-half weeks into the semester, and I was thrown into the deep end," Tracey said. "The rest of the semester was a learning process, just feeling my way through and trying to make the course mine over time."

Although he had never considered teaching as a career, he says he enjoyed training new HVAC technicians while working in the field – sometimes more than actually doing a repair job. Now, he says, he cannot imagine not being in front of a classroom.

"It's super rewarding to see that lightbulb click after weeks or months of struggle, he said.

Tracey knows the struggles of students firsthand, having earned a second AAS from Wake Tech, in Building Automation Technology (BAT), in 2025 while teaching a full course load. Freeman again quickly converted him from student to teacher, asking him to take over some BAT courses.

"He's incredibly knowledgeable about HVAC and has been able to adapt to teaching building automation, even though he's about at the same level of knowledge as us," BAT student Nick Drumheller said.

Tracey says he wants to enhance his BAT expertise by taking some Electrical Systems Technology courses – and possibly pursuing his third AAS.

"I just can't get away from the trades. Maybe I'll do some welding or automotive [courses] next," he said with a laugh.

His classes are freewheeling, as he and students trade barbs amid hands-on training. He often shouts "language" to scold anyone who curses in class, prompting laughter and even more jokes.

"He's very approachable and 'dummy-proofs' concepts for us," said student Juan Cruz, who added that Tracey helped him land his first job. "He's open to ideas and is willing to listen and experiment."

"If I screw up, I want them to call me on it," Tracey said. "I can't get better if I don't know."