ALICIA Duggin, a resident of Region Six, was able to fulfil her aspirations by enrolling in the Board of Industrial Training’s (BIT) Heavy-Duty Equipment Operation (HDEO) course.

Ms Duggin has always been intrigued by the Heavy-Duty Equipment Operator profession, which her father and older brother both hold.

According to the Board of Industrial Training, after completing her secondary education only a few weeks earlier, her fascination prompted her to investigate the HDEO course.

She made what she believed to be a “no-brainer” decision, which became clear when she started the gruelling programme and quickly rose to the top student rank, even among the boys.

“I knew this would be my profession the moment I sat in that 236D skid steer loader and cranked that key. The device had ignited a spark within me and made me willing to get my hands filthy, if necessary,” according to Ms. Duggin.

However, this was short-lived because her male classmate was intimidated by her presence.

She added that a challenge was mistakenly issued, and she soon became the object of some disappointing words in which they believed she should be at home doing chores. Another was that no woman should operate machinery.

Nevertheless, she said that these words did not make her feel wounded or discouraged but instead gave her the determination to prove them wrong. And she did precisely that by graduating first in her class.

The semi-easy portion, according to Ms. Duggin, was finally finished. Soon after, she began looking for work at a high-quality company that deserves her hard work.

“I applied at numerous companies and received responses from all of them, but I chose Avinash Contracting and Scrap Metal Inc. because it would be advantageous to me in the long term,” she explained.

However, this is not the conclusion of her story, rather, it is only the beginning. She thanked the Board of Industrial Training for allowing her the opportunity to realize a childhood aspiration.