I was born in Derby, and went to school in a fairly tough area of the city. I was diagnosed with dyslexia, and, for the most part, the teaching style at school just wasn't right for me. The subjects I did enjoy were Physics and Design Technology (DT). And in DT at least, I guess that's because you learn in a more practical way, which suited me far better.
In Year 10, I was nominated for lots of STEM activities. One of these was a competition run by Rolls-Royce, and of the ten teams that took part, our team won. More importantly, these STEM activities really helped me understand where my strengths and interests lie, and confirmed for me that this was the route I wanted to go down.
My parents have always been very supportive. And over the summer holidays before my final year at school, they paid for me to do a four-week camp, run by the Cadets with the UK Space programme. I loved every minute of that, and together with the competition I took part in at school, it paved the way to my apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce.
The programme I joined is designed to give you a good grounding in the practical skills you need to work on Rolls-Royce products. Within that, there are loads of specialisms you can choose, and though it took me while to decide what I wanted to be, I eventually chose Maintenance Engineer.
I’m now in my third year of this four-year programme, and I'm absolutely thriving here at Rolls-Royce. The real life work and hands-on learning suit me down to the ground. And where I struggled to get decent grades at school, I'm routinely achieving distinctions here.
There's always lots going on, but shifting priorities and the way work is scheduled means you never know what you might be doing from one hour, let alone one day, to the next! Some tasks are big. Some are small. You might spend five minutes on one, then move on to another. And it's not always rockets and engines. Sometimes, it's far more straightforward, day-to-day stuff.
Before COVID, I also mentored students in a local school. We worked together on a project and seeing how they progressed was great. Sadly, it was cut short due to the pandemic, but being able to share my knowledge felt so good. Going to recruitment events to represent Rolls-Royce and share my experiences also makes me enormously proud.
The thing I still enjoy most, however, is coming in on a Monday morning, catching up with the team, and seeing what they've been working on over the weekend. If I was at uni, watching PowerPoints all day, I'd be bored stiff!
Learn more about all our apprenticeship opportunities for school leavers or career changers https://careers.rolls-royce.com/united-kingdom/students-and-graduates/apprenticeships-and-school-leavers