On Wednesday night, Kangan Institute celebrated its students outstanding achievements and their ability to overcome challenges to pursue their education at this year’s Industry Excellence Awards.
The awards recognised 76 outstanding individuals across all areas of study at Kangan Institute, with a female auto mechanic, a sustainable fashion designer and an inspirational young woman among the major award winners.
Automotive apprentice, Madison Giordano, was awarded Apprentice of the Year 2021 for her achievements whilst undertaking a Certificate III in Heavy Commercial Vehicle Mechanical Technology.
After starting her education in nursing, Ms Giordano found it wasn’t for her and decided to take a trip around Australia. It was during that trip, when her car broke down, that she found her passion for the mechanical trade.
“I was stuck west of Alice Springs for a couple of months, so I stayed at a truck company, and I just helped out around the place,” Ms Giordano said.
It was there that she got to see the heavy mechanical industry firsthand, and when she arrived home, she made the choice to start her career in the industry as a first-year apprentice and undertaking her certificate with Kangan Institute.
“The facilities are really good, they had everything and multiples of everything. There’s always something for you to use, have a look at, pull apart, put back together.”
As a female in a male dominated field, Ms Giordano has found her team incredibly supportive but acknowledges that at times she does get treated differently by others.
“It can be daunting, there’s not many girls in this trade,” she said. “It’s just not very common.”
“You have to rely on people taking a chance and you kind of have to prove yourself a bit more and prove to people you can actually do it. But once you do that, and you get started, it’s really good,” she said.
Her employer, Craig Mee of mee’s, considers Ms Giordano as an asset to their workplace. “She always went the extra yard, and you don’t always get that,” he said.