‘Grease Monkey’ Loves Learning Trade Skills
Teena Boxer’s ambition is to be a diesel mechanic and to drive a Holden V8, so it would be fair to say she has a passion
for motors and cars.
“I love everything about them, the speed, even the sound. I am a grease monkey.” says the 18-year-old from Napier.
Teena had lost interest in school and only turned up on Fridays to attend the Hawke’s Bay Trades Academy at EIT where
she studied automotive engineering.
“I liked that, it was awesome and more my scene than body and beauty or hairdressing.”
Leaving school, the plan was to get a job, save for a car and start a course of study. She’s achieved those goals,
buying a Honda Civic and starting EIT’s Certificate in Applied Practical Skills – Trades Skills mid-this year, a
programme she also says is “awesome”.
The six-month, hands-on programme is an entry pathway for other certificate programmes in automotive, carpentry,
electrical and engineering.
EIT, she says, is “way chilled out”, meaning it’s the responsibility of students to make the effort to get themselves to
classes.
Next year Teena thinks she will probably progress to EIT’s National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Electrical
and Mechanical Engineering) Light Vehicle Strand.
Ultimately, she would like to work as a diesel mechanic because, she says, they are better paid than car mechanics.
“There are fewer of them working on trucks and four-wheel drives.”
That’s the long game. Right now, Teena is enjoying her studies and having recently gained her restricted driving licence
on her first attempt.
ENDS