I struggled a lot early on in my apprenticeship and to be honest at one point I did honestly think I wasn’t going to be able to finish it. Looking back now that would have been a huge mistake!
During my apprenticeship I was always made to feel equal with others and shared equal responsibility, often working independently on site and in the lab carrying out UKAS Accredited tests.
My working environment at Balfour Beatty Vinci has been quite surreal, working on the HS2 project. I’ve seen some incredible things and been a part of big things too, such as the world’s longest box slide, where we slid a 12,600-tonne bridge,165 metres to enable the HS2 line to cross over the Motorway at Marston.
I owe a lot to my tutor from Tiro, Nathan Dixon. He invested a lot of time into me with catching on bits I’d fell behind on previously, but also adjusting certain aspects of the apprenticeship to cater more to my learning style. I found it a lot easier saying things sometime than putting it in to words, so where he could Nathan would always try to do professional discussions over written assignments, and I think this helped me massively. He was also always at the end of the phone if ever I needed anything and for that I am very grateful for both him and Tiro.