When my teacher told me, ‘You will get nowhere with those grades’ and ‘You won’t be successful in your dream career’ just weeks before my GCSEs, I initially panicked. But instead of letting those comments defeat me, I chose to use them as motivation to prove them wrong and work even harder toward my dream apprenticeship.

Having to decide on your career at 16 can be scary and daunting, I know because I was in the same position. For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a midwife, nothing would convince me otherwise. I always loved helping people and the thought of helping people bring their children into this world was a dream. I picked my subject choices for GCSEs based of this career goal thinking this would be all I needed .If I passed all my GCSEs, I would be able to get into sixth form, pick 3 subjects that corresponds to becoming a midwife then move onto university.

My school at the time was collaborating with a company who were holding a girl in engineering program to help encourage more females in STEM. This was not something I would usually partake in but as another person asked me to go with them, I said yes, little did I know this would become something incredible for me. The program consisted of 5 days over the course of several months, with each visit being something different, either talks from current apprentices, engineering-based activities or having a shopfloor tour and being shown the behind the scenes. After day one, I was not as interested as others, but by the end of the second visit, I was confused how my future would look. Never in a million years would I have looked into the mirror and seen myself as an engineer. Little did I know that that day changed my life. Becoming an engineer was now on the cards for me and for the sessions that followed, my passion for engineering grew stronger and the thought of making a difference and shaping a path for other females that followed was now a newfound dream.

I was lucky enough to have careers advisor who suggested that I look at apprenticeship schemes. I did not know what apprenticeships where or even entailed, so I decided to do some research into companies and what apprenticeships they had to offer. As I was coming to the end of secondary school, I was looking at a level 3 advanced apprenticeship, and I was amazed to see the variety of opportunities at hand. In the end I applied for eight apprenticeships with various companies. The number of applications you make fluctuates between people; but i don’t think you can ever apply to too many! Of my eight applications, three of which I never heard back from, two of them I got to the interview round and then was rejected, and I was then lucky enough to be offered three of them. It was then decision time, it is never easy picking into the unknown, not knowing if it is going to be the right decision or opportunity, not knowing if you are going to get the chance to progress and become something big.

The fear of rejection is something everyone fears, its normal, I felt it. The rejection felt like a punch in the chest, the thoughts of “Am I even good enough?", “What if I don’t get offered anything?”, were tough. At the end of the day there isn’t anything to lose. I had to push myself outside my comfort zone, and believe that there are endless opportunities, and you never know what’s around the corner. After getting rejected/ ghosted by companies made me rethink back to what my teacher said to me and I started to believe her and what she was saying made sense, I started to give up. I stopped trying in lessons, doing the bare minimum, hated school and everyone inside of it and started isolating myself because I started to see myself as a failure. If it wasn’t for my mum, the person who helped me through everything and kept pushing me to strive for better. She sat me down and said to flip the way I heard those comments, to see it as a challenge - if she thinks you will fail, prove her wrong, if she thinks you won’t succeed in your dream career, let her watch you thrive and become the person she never thought you could be. From that day forward I was ready to prove everyone wrong.

I eventually came to a decision, the decision that would change my life, I took the leap and accepted a position with a global rail infrastructure and rolling stock company, Siemens Mobility. This decision later became the choice that opened the door to a future I never imagined possible. A few months later I found out that I was offered the position and was excited, but I also started to panic. I got the offer before receiving my GCSE results and I knew there was a criteria needed to secure my position but didn’t believe that I could achieve it. I was then invited to the apprentice onboarding week which I got to meet the other apprentices from all over the country. The onboarding week was nothing short of incredible, building professional connections, having fun, learning more about the company and best of all forming lifelong friendships. I did not know then but the first day of onboarding I was going to meet my best friend, Sophie. We had never met or spoke, but we clicked instantly, we were joint at the hip from day one. We live hours away from each other and doing different roles but talk all the time and we are each other’s number 1 supporters. When I first accepted this offer, I was worried I would have no one around my age to talk to, but I was blessed to have Sophie come into my life. It goes to prove that you can make friends anywhere, any age and even at work!

I passed my GCSEs and my first day came around and the nerves started to kick in again, but I was also too excited to see my future unfold to even think about being nervous. I was taught so much in just one day, the people surrounding me were the most welcoming people and are always willing to help me make as much progress as possible. Now, 5 months into my apprenticeship, I am still loving everything that I do, in fact more each day. The support around me all the time has been incredible, and led to how settled I am now, compared to my first day has been the most incredible change. The opportunities that Siemens have offered in just 5 months has blown me away. I was lucky enough to be interview by the MP of Northampton, have a radio interview with BBC radio 4, attend networking events and been asked to do a bible reading at the National Railway Christmas Carol Service, with so many more dates lined up for more exciting opportunities for my professional growth, I can’t wait to see what my future holds at Siemens Mobility.

If only I could have spoken to my past self and said how many people you would prove wrong and how successful I would be and the happiness that this opportunity would bring me. My younger self would be so proud of who I have become and what I have achieved so far. It might not have been my original dream but is now my passion. Looking back now, accepting this apprenticeship was the best decision I ever made, not only for my personal development but for my career development too. Opportunities are endless if you are dedicated to making it happen, nothing in life is promised, you must take that risk and make a leap of faith into the unknown because anything is possible.

If you take at least one thing from my journey to help you build the foundations to your career, apprenticeship or job, let it be that setbacks can be a blessing in disguise, anything is possible and don’t limit yourself just because you see yourself as a failure because the opportunities aren’t bound by your fears but created of your aspirations. If something doesn’t work out, then try and try again - persistence is key and can take you far. You are worthy of something successful just as much as everyone around you. Most of all do not compare your journey to others because you write your future, no one else. Go and grab everything with both hands and smash it!

Faye Platt

Train Maintenance Technician Apprentice at Siemens Mobility

You can find out more and connect with Faye on LinkedIn.