When Jack McIntyre was growing up in Lithgow, he had no idea which career path he'd and would never have predicted the journey he is on at the moment.
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Mr McIntyre is a cadet engineer with Wagga Wagga City Council and a student at Charles Sturt University.
According to Mr McIntyre, the industry is becoming appealing to other young residents from the region.
In other news:
"There's been quite a few people that from Lithgow that have gone on and done engineering, some were even in the same course as me," Mr Mcintyre said.
Mr Mcintyre said he felt lucky to grow up in the Lithgow area as it had the countryside, but was also close to Sydney. The industrial history of the region piqued Mr McIntyre's interest, which he believes contributed to his decision to pursue engineering.
"I thought it was really a beautiful place to grow up. I always felt like I was interested in industry and in engineering," Mr McIntyre said.
"Lithgow definitely sort of has that background with the steelworks and the railways and the minds. It made sense that that's what I wanted to do."
Despite his interests growing up, it didn't dawn on Mr McIntyre to pursue study in engineering until he finished high school. "My high school experience doesn't really line up with what I'm doing now. I never did engineering or industrial studies," he said.
"I sort of just did a lot of science, english and maths. And then just picked engineering after high school."
Mr McIntyre said 'he fell into' his career path, when a Charles Sturt University (CSU) advertisement caught his attention. "I was always looking at different types of engineering, I was also looking at a few different careers or degrees," he said.
"But the CSU course popped up, out of the blue, and it looked like a really exciting way to do it. It made a lot of sense to me."
Mr McIntyre commenced the course at the Bathurst campus, where he would stay for 18 months until his work placement at Wagga Wagga Council began.
"I applied for (Council placement) because I knew I wanted to sort of go into either local government or state government engineering works," he said.
"I really enjoy working on projects that the community can use, and that sort of basic functions of everyday life. So I applied for different councils and state government organisations and that's how I ended up in Wagga."
Mr McIntyre still has 18 months left on his degree, with some big goals he wants to achieve after graduation.
"Broadly speaking, I'm would be interested in working on some bigger projects, whether they're sort of more state significant projects that might be large motorways and things like that," he said.
"I'd like to sort of move on to bigger things and maybe go work with a state government agency or private engineering consultant."
Reidun Berntsen
Reidun is a Journalist and writer who lives in a country town 3 hours from Sydney, Australia. From a young age, Reidun has been in love with words and the infinite possibilities they bring. Stories, features and poems have been a major part of her writing career.
Reidun is a Journalist and writer who lives in a country town 3 hours from Sydney, Australia. From a young age, Reidun has been in love with words and the infinite possibilities they bring. Stories, features and poems have been a major part of her writing career.
