She told Phoebe Harrop, 17, all about it

electrons zooming around a circuit and sexy rubber safety gloves — do they get

your heart racing? Well, for one Christchurch student,

electricity is the pulse of her life. Bridie O’Keefe, a former Villa Maria College

pupil, was named Electrical Pre-trade Student of 2007, after completing her

first year on the road to becoming one of New Zealand’s few female registered

electricians. Contrary to what you may think, Bridie was not a bespectacled science

nerd who spent her time shuffling around the library at school, thinking

about physical theorems and her favourite electrical equation. (Not that

there’s anything wrong with that; I like a bit of physical

philosophy as much as the next person.)

Instead, Bridie was a decidedly left-brained intellectual, busying

herself with art history, classics and the visual arts.

Disenchanted with the idea of doing a Bachelor of Arts and

becoming a studentloan-enslaved victim of StudyLink, Bridie

cottoned on to the idea of doing an apprenticeship.

“I felt that the electrical industry offered the most to me, taking into

account my personal interests, skills and abilities,” she says.

The advantages were numerous: getting paid while you become qualified;

gaining genuine workplace experience; a likely placement post-qualification; and,

best of all, no student loan. Oh, and did I mention that Bridie was the only

girl on her course? Apparently, it’s quite intimidating to be the only female in a

lecture theatre with 90 boys. Mind you, if they’re good-looking…

Before her pre-trade course, Bridie completed a four-week ‘taster’ course

at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology. Steve Price,

CPIT’s electrical training programme coordinator, says of Bridie: “During

this course she was a star student … Bridie had a very good attitude

and a passion for the industry. We had no hesitation in offering her a position

on the elite ESITO (Electrical Supply Industry Training Organisation) pre-trade

course. This is a very much sought-after course because of the wonderful job

opportunities that are available for the students at the end.”

Bridie’s first year at the polytechnic was spent completing the ESITO pretrade

course that prepared her for an electrical apprenticeship.

She learned all about the basic science of electricity, electrical fitting, safety

procedures, protocol on a worksite and many other exciting electrical things.

“Every day is different. You learn new and interesting skills that are

relevant to the industry you’re going into,” she says.

It seems Bridie was rather good at all of this and fought off the boys to be

awarded Best Pre-Trader of the Year, 2007. Along with kudos and bragging

rights, she received ‘dust poles’ (which are used to test voltage), a first-aid kit

and a work light. Practical gifts for a girl gifted in practical skills.

So what’s next for the electrical empress? Assuming all goes well,

she’ll be a registered electrician by 2010. Then she could be earning

anything between $18 and $27 an hour. She’d also like to travel, and will be

able to use her qualification in other countries, which has huge appeal. New

Zealand tradespeople have a fantastic international reputation as hard workers,

and are snapped up overseas. After that, Bridie could start her own company,

teach at polytech or write safety regulations. ESITO could also help her

go on to further qualifications; it offers various scholarships to its students.

For the moment, though, Bridie works about 40 hours a week with

the company she’s hoping to become apprenticed to: Titan Electrical. She also

goes to a couple of night classes a week, to continue her studies. There’s also a

definite social side to her course, and she says she’s become pretty tight with

the group of guys she’s spent the last year with.