Scott Shearan – Award Update 5
28/11/17 – 30/11/17
Location: Sydney, New South Wales
Home Again ?.
Sydney for 3 days, I spend the time catching up with family, friends, Previous mentor and boss Steve Pugsley who I worked with for over 6 years.
I also caught up with my TAFE Teachers at Mt Druitt TAFE Andrew Berta and Lee Wilton, where I was also invited to meet part of the Western Sydney University Solar Car team who had placed 6 in the world which was impressive, so I had a BBQ celebration with part of the team and got to talk with them which was interesting.
26/11/17 – 27/11/17
Location: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
26th – Today is the day. Flying down to Canberra from Sydney for the National VET Workshop where I would be presenting my story on stage in front of them as well as be part of a panel of alumni during discussion.
I have arrived in Canberra, headed straight to the hotel and got ready for the event. Excited and ready to go I arrived at the National Convention, first task was to seek out Mr Tim Shaw, who was the MC for the night. Tim, just like myself had completed an automotive electrical apprenticeship and had gone onto leading a successful career in many different areas as a Television presenter, Radio Announcer, Businessman and much more!
I was able to find him, we had a good talk about the area I work in and his exciting life, after a brief period it was show time. We had a briefing in the Bradman theatre welcoming over 140 Vet Alumni’s and then it was time to head to the ballroom where we would have dinner. I was first speaker of the night where I presented a speech and presentation for over 10 minutes talking about my story from when I left school to undertake an apprenticeship, to where I am now and where I want to be in the future. The presentation and speech was a hit! It all went great and was a big relief. I was asked to join the discussion panel at the front of the room which included Jeanette Allen, Alan Tongue, Alan Waldron and Jess Benge for the rest of the night to interact with fellow alumni.
It was a great start to the workshop and my story was a really seem to have been a success with many fellow alumni coming up congratulating, talking and wanting to know more about my story!
The next day, the 27th, is the final day of the workshop. We will be working in media interaction, upskilling and being prepared. We had a media discussion Panel as well further guest speaker motivating us to promote a positive message. The famous Kevin Sheedy was one our guest speakers who really seem to have gotten the message across with me in one of his quotes during his speech “The world coming at us will need a different skill set. It’s a big challenge, but if you are passionate about something, you’ll make people listen.” I really enjoyed listening and learning from media discussion and our guest speakers.
Next stop was parliament house where we to conclude our workshop have feedback, talk about what is next for the VET Alumni and say our goodbyes.
This was a very short overview of the workshop, I was so glad I was able to attend. I had the chance to meet, learn and speak with so many people. I was inspired by everyone’s stories and passion throughout the event. I look forward to the future of VET and what is possible.
Sometimes you get caught up in everything going on in life and forget what you really are doing. This event really gave me a chance to look back on what has happened, what is happening in my life and made me smile. Being surrounded by so much positiveness. On another note as well I even had people who I would look up to tell me that I inspire them!
22/11/17 – 26/11/17
Location: Sydney, New South Wales
Well I have arrived at the Alpha hotel at 12:30am after a sleep in the taxi from the airport, just thinking to myself I really don’t give myself a chance to rest. But oh well, it’s all part of the fun isn’t it?
Wake up head straight down to the conference where I was there to represent WorldSkills Australia with the benefits and opportunities in life it presents. I presented my talk and had the chance to learn and listen to other speakers, it was a fantastic conference that I was able to learn greatly from. I also had the chance to connect and make to contacts which is fantastic.
Home Bound!
Heading back to home for the first time in 5 months was exciting. Got to see everyone (family, friends, pets) was great. I spent the next 3 days sitting out the back of my house relaxing a bit (not much) and preparing my presentation for the National VET Alumni Information Workshop
17/11/17 – 22/11/17
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Woohoo I am heading home!! Kind of …sort of…. not for too long though.
so, 22 hours later I have made it back to the best country in the world!! I landed in Sydney and with a connecting flight to Adelaide following on to join the rest of my Aurrigo team. I struggle to sleep on planes, so I do feel a little exhausted but so excited to be back home in the nice warm weather. As we were flying over I could see beautiful crystal blue water at the beautiful beaches of Adelaide, I touched down at 11:00 am and the very first mission was to head straight to the beach and soak up that Australian sun as it was the only spare day I had in Adelaide.
I arrived on Sunday the 19th , bought towel and board shorts then headed straight to Seacliff beach, where as soon as I got there I laid down and fell asleep straight away from being so exhausted.. woke up realised I never put sunscreen on before I fell asleep, Half of my face and neck were burnt while the other side was a pale white! It looked quite funny. So, I had a quick swim then headed back to the house that was rented for the Aurrigo team while we were in Adelaide. Had a quick sleep until the rest of the team came home from their tourist adventures, they found it quite hilarious that half my face and neck were bright red!
Monday has come around and we are off to the Tonsley Precinct in Adelaide where we will be preparing our vehicles with Aurrigo Australia for routes the pod will be doing at the precinct. The Pod will be delivering goods to the various businesses in the area as well as a form of transport for pedestrians. I spent 3 days assisting in the setup working long days with no time to really explore much at all, I enjoyed the chance to be in Adelaide working with Aurrigo developing the product internationally.
Time to head back to Sydney. Straight from the Tonsley Precinct to Eastern Creek for the Australian Association of Progressive Repairers (AAPR) National Future Training Conference.