Modern Apprentice

The only reason 21 year old Ryan Thrush (still a keen rugby, indoor cricket and soccer player) went to school was for P.E. As for the rest, he hated it. Yet he's really enjoying doing his Modern Apprenticeship in Sawdoctoring. Ryan is attending block courses at Waiariki Institute of Technology Wood Processing TITC, organised by FITEC.

He feels Waiariki Polytechnic is the best institution of its type in Australasia, because only TITC has its own working mill. This gives TITC graduates a head start when they move out into the workforce because they've had access to the whole range of skills.

And what would Ryan say to anyone thinking of taking up a Modern Apprenticeship? It takes around six years, for example, "to really know what you're doing" in Sawdoctoring. Ryan likes the feeling that he's mastering a craft. He emphasises how challenging an Apprenticeship is - and how very satisfying it feels to do well at something so challenging.

School was never Ryan's thing and now he's experiencing the buzz of doing well at something that offers him lots of ongoing challenges - plus lots of future opportunities.