GROWING up, Emma Tyrrell was always uncertain what career path she would follow.
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However, the one thing she did know was she didn’t want to attend university.
Around the age of 24, Miss Tyrrell came to the realisation she wanted to become an electrician and so she began studying at Certificate III in electrotechnology at Leeton’s TAFE NSW campus.
While doing so, she gained an apprenticeship at SunRice where she was already employed in a different capacity.
The field still continues to be mostly dominated by males, but this wasn’t something that fazed Miss Tyrrell.
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She would like all women – young and old – to know there doesn’t have to be any barriers when it comes to gender and careers.
“I guess I was a little bit worried at the start how I would be treated, but I worked with a lot of the guys already with what I was doing at SunRice,” Miss Tyrrell said.
“It was never an issue (being female). I don’t think I get treated differently and it’s a really great industry to be part of.
“A lot of the guys are my friends outside of work anyway, so it hasn’t been a problem.”
Miss Tyrrell has now successfully completed her Certificate III and her apprenticeship will be officially finished around October.
"It was a big advantage to have TAFE here … I could keep what I was learning fresh for when I was back on the job,” she said. Miss Tyrrell is contracted at SunRice until April next year and hopes to stay on with the company.
She hopes other young people know they have options when it comes to their careers. “Like I said, I never really knew what I wanted to do,” Miss Tyrrell said.
“I was working as soon as I left school, but I still wasn’t sure. This sort of proves you don’t have to know straight away.
“People put a lot of pressure on kids doing their HSC these days, but they should know it’s not really the ‘be all and end all’.
“They can still choose to do something they love. There’s a lot of options out there and university doesn’t have to be the only thing you look at.”
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