I decided I wanted to apply for an apprenticeship as I wanted to start earning my own money to enable me to be independent. I decided it was time I relied on myself instead of my parents paying for things for me. I saw this opportunity and spoke to my dad about what it was all about and what I would be doing; I liked the sound of it, so I applied. This was just something I kind of liked the look of, but I found it very interesting and started thinking about the future career I wanted; I then knew that this was a very good opportunity to go for and hopefully progress with.
I feel like I have achieved many things since starting my journey with EN:Able Futures, both during my working days and since starting college. It has taught me to be more organised with things such as doing my assignments by myself and having a certain date for them to be handed in. I never really had the pressure of doing big and important projects until I successfully started this opportunity, but I feel that they have made me more independent and have made me concentrate a lot.
I didn’t know what working full time would be like but it’s fair to say I have really enjoyed it so far. I like the thought of having tasks to do by myself but having the help there if needed. I also feel like I’ve gained knowledge of how things work with housing associations and how many different stages there are to understand.
One of the things I have enjoyed the most is going out on site: I found it so interesting seeing the start of projects moving onto completion, such as kitchens and bathrooms. Seeing the full process from a kitchen being ripped out and everything just destroyed, to a brand new kitchen being installed is such an good opportunity. Another thing I have enjoyed is just being in a working atmosphere as I have never been in an environment like this one before.
My hopes and aspirations for the future are simply that, after completing the two-year apprenticeship, I get a permanent job that uses what I’ve been learning; hopefully earning the money I want to, while doing the job that I want to do. I am really looking forward to doing the work by myself when I move on to fulltime employment; things like having a kitchen to inspect by myself on first touch and get to see what to look for in a kitchen on a new building site.