Adele is flying high with aeronautical mechanical apprenticeship
Passionate about metal work and design technology, Adele quickly discovered she enjoyed making things, but found she wasn’t suited to a traditional educational approach.
Now in her third year as an aeronautical mechanical apprentice, Adele has gone from strength to strength and even took home a bronze medal in the 2021 World Skills UK Competition in late November, building on a gold medal in Skills Competition Wales earlier last year.
“I was doing maths, physics and design technology in the hopes to go to university to do some sort of engineering,” she said.
“But I really struggled with the structure of it all, and I felt like if I didn’t enjoy A-Levels, I wouldn’t enjoy university. So, I thought I’d go to the engineering college and do an NVQ and do a lot more practical stuff.”
After enrolling at Coleg Cambria in Wrexham, Adele’s confidence immediately increased and with it, her success. She now remains focused on the lengthy process of earning her engineering license, a substantial step that will see her responsible for approving aircraft as “ready to fly.”
“I love being asked ‘What do you do?’ because people always think I’m at university, and they might not know what an apprenticeship is. They’re always shocked when I tell them, ‘I work on planes’ or ‘I helped with an engine swap today.’”