The Apprentice

Make sure your volume is on: "It's been a whole new territory..."

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I previously did a degree in interior design and whilst I was on the degree, I started to look at exterior design as well and thought I'd like to have a go at that.

So when I left university and started looking for jobs, I was looking to go into exterior design, but I didn't have the knowledge to back it up. I felt like I had the design there, but I wouldn't have actually known what was viable to put in the design.

So I thought I wanted to get a job where I could actually learn all the basics of the plants. And then when I saw the apprenticeship program, I thought it'd be a great way to earn money and be able to learn at the same time. I live locally, so it was just happened to be really lucky that this came up and it was really suited me.

I think with apprenticeships, I always thought of people straight from school. I didn't know whether I'd be eligible if I'd already done a degree. But where it wasn't within this industry, I was able to sort of go for it.

I think it's been a whole new territory for me. I have previously worked in a garden centre, so I recognized the plants, but I’d had no experience gardening before. So every single step was new. Learning and going to… I go to Sparsholt College… I've never been to a place like that. And it was just a completely new concept and there's so many things I've never thought about before.

It's definitely been a whole new thing to learn. I think, especially where I've done a degree and specialized in something - to then to go into a new industry where you just don't know anything…it can be quite daunting.