Adult Education: Greg Barrett
Date published:
Greg Barrett, Project Engineer at Northumbrian Water shares his experience of Adult Learning:
I joined the water industry out of college with A levels, and during the first 3 years I moved around the company but found a ceiling with my technical ability. I never wanted to go into management, as I have a great enjoyment and understanding of engineering. So after doing some research and looking into the different sectors of engineering, I settled on studying in an area I was working in with the business which was Civil Engineering. After doing some research I found a local University which offered a Degree in Civil Engineering, which it run on a part time basis. I explained to by manager at the time that I wanted to go ahead with this course to develop me, and hopefully bring some new expertise to the department.
So I studied for 6 years, I also moved around the company a little more to expand my own personal knowledge. I didn’t really know what I would do once I completed the degree as ultimately my previous job had its limits. The company had seen the departure of a Project Engineer who was a Civil Engineer, his job had been vacant for about a year as no suitable candidate could be found to replace him.
I explained my situation of undertaking my degree (still having 3 months left until it was complete) and working within the civil engineering sector of the company for around 5 years. I was offered an interview and ultimately was given the role, given my experience and the technical knowledge to back it up.
Truly taking this higher education did open doors for me, the prerequisite of a degree was vital for the role I am currently in. I have had many people speak to me since about what I did and I explained that yes it’s hard and you need a great deal of commitment, but the rewards are truly worth it. I now, on a daily basis use my degree in my working life. Many people I know have taken degrees in fields they don’t work in, and not only do they forget most of what they learnt but are not able to advance themselves of the companies they work for.
This has inspired me so much I have now retuned to university to undertake a Masters level degree again in Civil Engineering, with the support of the company and the resources available it has been a real pleasure. What also helps is by taking these qualifications in areas in which I work makes it a little easier to digest, as I have real work examples to draw on and better understand the content of courses.
Yes the degree has opened doors for me within the business, but over the past couple of years I have had the opportunity to spearhead and develop new techniques within the company. I now have many people from different parts of the company come to me for advice and help on matters within their induvial departments. So this education has not only benefited me in terms of how I work and live, but also other people are able to tap into knowledge the company lost after my predecessor left. This is a real good feeling to know people value you and your opinions and you can really help people, again education has really helped me and I could not imagine what things would have been like for me had I not pushed myself to learn more.