Best of both worlds
Ben McGillivray - Student story
Name: Ben McGillivray | |
Ben McGillivray has the best of both worlds. An electrical apprentice living in the beautiful town of Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula, studying with The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand has meant he can earn nationally recognised qualifications without leaving home.
An apprentice with Gardner Electrical, Ben has completed the National Certificate in Electrical Engineering Levels 2 and 3 with the distance education specialist, and is now working towards his electrical registration with the Level 4 qualification.
“I enrolled with The Open Polytechnic because there was no local provider close by, I would have had to travel to Tauranga or Hamilton, and The Open Polytechnic had the best support option for distance learning,” says Ben.
Students with The Open Polytechnic are able to contact their tutors at any time via freephone or email should they need help with assignments, and block courses are held around the country where practical experience is needed to complete their qualification.
The National Certificates in Electrical Engineering have been developed by the Electrotechnology Industry Training Organisation (ETITO) in response to the needs of the Electrical Industry.
Students studying for these qualifications with The Open Polytechnic are able to study in their own time at home. “I usually study after work, and I like the fact that if it is a rainy weekend I can sit down and get into my study,” says the 19-year-old.
A study group held once a week at the local school organised in a joint initiative between The Open Polytechnic, ETITO, and the Waikato Apprentice Board Trust also provides learner support and allows Ben to catch up with fellow students.
Determined to be the best he can, Ben’s study efforts were recognised last year when he won the ‘Waikato Electrical Apprentice of the Year’ award from the Waikato Electrical Apprenticeship Committee.
“I was pretty surprised when I won the award,” comments Ben, who took away a selection of tools and testers as his prize as well as $500 cash. “It will be good for the future because it shows others that I am very motivated.”
The National Certificates in Electrical Engineering at The Open Polytechnic are open enrolment courses, meaning that from the time of enrolment students have one year to complete the course.
“I am quite an organised person so I like to stay ahead of my studies so that if I need to stop for a month I can,” says Ben. “Then I can start up again a few weeks later and nothing is lost – but I don’t like to leave assignments to the last three weeks of the hand in period because then you just get stressed out.”
Whether it is wiring up a house in a rural area, working on an apartment block, or undertaking commercial and light industrial work, Ben says he has been able to put what he is learning to practical use on a daily basis. “We do a bit of everything at Gardner Electrical, some days I can be working five minutes from home, on other days it can be over an hour away – we pretty much cover the Coromandel.”
When he is not working or studying Ben likes to pursue his interest in cars. His sights set firmly on the future, once he is finished his level 4 qualification he intends to enrol in the level 5 National Certificate in Electrical Engineering – an advanced trade qualification - before looking at how he can further his career.
