Fiona Khoza’s journey into the world of apprenticeship began with winning a Grand Award at the Eskom Expo International Science Fair (ISF) in 2017. The award, a three-year Mechatronics/Electronics apprenticeship at the Siemens Professional Education in Berlin, Germany worth R1,5 million was sponsored by Siemens.
Graduating with an impressive average of 78%, Khoza reflected on her time with a mix of nostalgia and achievement. “It was honestly a bittersweet experience when graduating, because it was just a thing of ‘Where did all the time go?!’” she recalls.
Currently, Khoza has embarked on a new course in her career, venturing into the field of accounting. “I fell in love with it along the way and discovered that maybe my new passion might be it,” says the former learner at Mahhushe Agricultural High School in Mpumalanga. This career shift was driven by her belief in growth and the desire to challenge herself beyond her initial love for machines and engineering.
“I believe growth is the word. I was around 14 when I developed my love for machines and engineering and 14-year-old me thought that’s all there was to it. As soon as my world opened up, I started wanting more for myself and discovering that I shouldn’t limit my brain but challenge it to other new things. Studying accounting has brought quite the change as I’ve never done it in high school. It’s channelling different perspectives of myself and my thinking capabilities at whole different levels,” she says.
Reflecting on her time at the academy in Berlin, Khoza remembers the camaraderie among her classmates and instructors. “We had different cultures, but when we all came together, it was like one huge family connected by the love of creating things,” she says.
One particularly memorable experience was completing a group project with her class mate, and receiving certificates of completion. “It was so amazing and overwhelming that we both cried. We totally deserved a basket of chocolates because we were like ‘Wow, two females really did that? We built that? And it works? We must be really cool people!” she recalls.
The apprenticeship programme at the Siemens Technical Academy equipped Khoza with invaluable skills and knowledge that continue to shape her professional journey. “It set me up with a plan that I never knew I needed,” she says.
Khoza’s time management skills, communication abilities, and work ethic were honed during her apprenticeship, preparing her for the challenges of her current career path. “I’m such a much more disciplined and flexible student now and my time keeping skills are impeccable. Also, being exposed to different people and cultures has made it easy for me to settle with different people, and be able to work with them,” she says.
Looking ahead, Khoza sees herself contributing to the field of Mechatronics/Electronics, leveraging her training and experiences to drive innovation and problem-solving. “There is always room for great minds to explore and learn in the field,” she says. “My time at the academy has highlighted the crucial role we mechatronics experts play in today’s world. Although I may have not followed the career to its fullest, should there be an opportunity or a need to showcase my expertise, I’ll definitely show up. There’s nothing better than seeing smiles on people’s faces knowing that I contributed to make their lives easier just by building something new they always needed,” she says.
In conclusion, Khoza offered valuable advice to aspiring apprentices: “Brace yourself for a journey of self-discovery! There is so much to learn in very little time, but with great effort. The numerous amounts of certificates you’ll get at the end will be so heavy, you’ll definitely need to be put up on a wall for everyone to see!” she adds.
As she continues to navigate her career path, Khoza remains grateful for the foundation laid during her apprenticeship and looks forward to embracing new opportunities for growth and learning.