This year has been full of ups and downs and many days ended with me questioning myself. I took on an apprenticeship with Brehar Building Pty in January this year whist also working an occasional Saturday in real estate with Domain Property group and McGrath just so I had a plan B if things didn’t go as expected.
A few months into my apprenticeship with Brehar, conditions proved very challenging as a lot of the work was night shifts from 3am or 4am going into 8 to 10 hour shifts each day in places such as Bondi, Strathfield & Pyrmont. With my parents having a house in Coogee, it made the travel a bit easier.
I thought I was living the dream, finishing early in the day and heading straight to Bondi or Coogee beach each afternoon. About 2 months into the job, the boss of the company started showing up on site regularly. Due to my tardiness and lack of effort some days, I didn’t feel he had a great attitude towards me.
I took a 2 week break from work to think clearly about what I wanted, went to Indonesia and blocked off social media completely. After realising how I could improve, I decided to come back and give it everything. I carried on working for a few months, making an effort to be the first one at work each day and showing the boss that I was interested in learning. He became a lot friendlier, we began to get along really well and I began to realise how good a boss he actually was. Work became a lot more enjoyable, however I still thought about moving onto something else due to the toll the physical work was taking on my body.
At the beginning of August, my boss gave me a job working away from home in the same town my Dad works. He also paid me at fully qualified tradesman rates, plus an extra $100 a day food allowance. I started working normal 8 hour days from 7am, working 5 minutes away from my residence which is walking distance to the shops and gym.
I’m very happy that I hung in there after a tough start and it has proved to be very rewarding. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year .
Longy
(Liam White)
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