Earning top honours in the trade she always wanted

From an early age, Brooke Mangion felt like she was destined to work in a trade.

Having always been pretty good with her hands, Brooke was keen to learn and began by doing her own projects before taking on an apprenticeship.

“I never really wanted to do any of the other trades,” Brooke said. “I always loved carpentry. Just the idea of being able to build something and being able to do it anywhere in the world was really enticing.”

As a teenager, Brooke was caring full-time for her mother while also working and completing Years 11 and 12 through homeschooling. After her mother passed away, Brooke devoted herself to pursuing the career she’d always imagined.

“I always wanted to get into carpentry, I just hadn’t had the opportunity to do so,” she said. “Being able to just focus on work was so nice, especially since I’d spent so much time caring for someone else every day.”

Brooke’s career so far has taken her from domestic and commercial work to major infrastructure projects including the Metro Tunnel, Footscray Hospital, Melton Station and several level crossing removal projects.

Along the way, she joined AGA and continued her apprenticeship while working with construction company Casello, where she has now spent close to three years. Her performance during her placement ultimately led to ongoing full-time employment with the company.

Working across different projects and seeing the finished result is one of the things Brooke loves most about the trade.

“It’s super rewarding and once you see the scale of what we do when it’s finished, it’s so nice,” she said. “You can drive past these things every day and know that you were a part of that.”

Brooke said establishing herself in a male-dominated industry had also meant proving herself through her work.

“As long as you work hard and do what’s required, they’ll welcome you,” she said. “But yeah, you definitely have to earn it.”

Brooke’s commitment was recognised at AGA’s annual graduation and awards night, where she received both Student of the Year and Apprentice of the Year.

Her AGA trainer, George Aspros, said Brooke was always looking for opportunities to practise skills she might not regularly encounter on site. He wasn’t surprised when she won the awards on graduation night.

“It was her work ethic,” George said. “She took on a lot of night shifts but still completed all her theory, and to a high standard. You could explain things to her and she’d take it all on board. She was really driven to learn.”

Brooke knew she had been nominated for an award, but had no expectation of how the night would unfold.

“I was pretty happy when I won Student of the Year. That was really nice,” she said. “And then when they called my name a second time, I was ecstatic. It was actually really nice to receive one award, let alone two.”

The recognition reflected something that had been there from the beginning: a genuine enthusiasm for learning her trade.

“When I came into trade school, I always wanted to learn. I was very eager. I’d ask questions, probably too many questions,” she said. “I always wanted to be better. I really took on any advice that George had. I’m passionate and I’ll work hard. If you give me a task, I’ll try to do it the best I can.”

Perhaps the best indication of how much Brooke enjoyed her apprenticeship came when it was time to finish it.

“I was sad,” she said. “You still always feel like you’ve got so much to learn. I was going to miss coming to trade school, seeing George and having that experience.

“It’s definitely rewarding. You’re excited to be qualified and you’re excited for all the opportunities that will come, but you also miss the journey.”