Apprentice Montana Breen hopes to inspire other young women to pursue a career in a trade. Photo: Shri Gayathirie Rajen.
Born and raised on a farm, Montana Breen is no stranger to rolling up her sleeves and getting to work on repairs around her family’s property.
Currently pursuing her Certificate III in Plumbing at TAFE NSW Wagga Wagga, Montana’s interest in the field stemmed from farmwork.
“I did a bit of farmwork, then went back to school and took a VET course in plumbing,” she said.
”I was there for about two months and realised I really wanted to pursue it, so I left school and started working full time.
“Working on the farm, I often fixed blueline fittings, pipes and pumps, and I found it really interesting. I decided to take a course at school to explore it further.
“I did two weeks of work experience, trying commercial and maintenance plumbing, and it just clicked. Now, I’m in my third year.”
Although the only female student in her class, the young apprentice doesn’t feel she needs to work harder to prove herself.
“My TAFE class is pretty supportive,” she said. ”Sometimes when other people are doing better than you, you think, ‘Girl, if they can do it, how come I can’t do it?’.
“TAFE teachers remind us how far we’ve come and encourage us to keep going and not let one thing bring us down. It’s all about learning from mistakes. Every day at TAFE and work, I pick up something new.”
Montana feels her upbringing sometimes provides an advantage.
“I’m a bit more switched on with tools because I used them on the farm,” she said. ”But with pipes and fittings, learning all the different ins and outs, that was new.
“Blueline pipe itself wasn’t new, but how to run it correctly and learning all the Australian standards – that was.
“You can’t just install anything. You have to follow the standards we learn here at TAFE. There’s a lot to it. We have five books. It’s great, but it’s a lot to learn.”
Born in Wagga, the 18-year-old was raised in Queensland and hopes to one day inspire other girls to pursue a career in a trade.
“I’d love to encourage more women to push through and get into trades,” Montana said.
”It’s an amazing career and having those skills is empowering. There’s no reason women can’t do what men do in this field.
“It would be nice to share my knowledge. I’d also like to start my own business eventually or work in the mines. That would be interesting.
“I’d also like to come back and teach at TAFE, helping others who want to learn plumbing.”
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