Gisborne teen Celia Brooking an ‘exemplar student’ in automotive engineering

Celia Brooking has embarked on a “really cool” career in the automotive industry.

Growing up around cars has led a young Tairāwhiti woman to study automotive engineering at EIT with the hope of breaking into the male-dominated industry.

Celia Brooking (Ngāti Porou) grew up in Tairāwhiti, went to Gisborne Girls’ High School and last year enrolled in the Level 3 Certificate in Automotive Engineering at EIT.

A love of cars and tinkering under the hood led Brooking to follow her dream and study at the Tairāwhiti campus from last July to April this year.

She has not looked back and is now doing her apprenticeship for the Level 4 Certificate.

“It was really cool, much more so than I expected,” Brooking said.

“I got to learn every aspect of a car and how everything works and how to service the car.

“My tutors in Level 3 were excellent and I still associate with them today.”

The 18-year-old said while it could still be tough being a female in a male-dominated industry, “everyone’s been pretty accepting and pretty nice, especially where I’m working right now”.

She works at the Overnight Service Centre in Gisborne, where she is doing her apprenticeship and gets to service vehicles and help out with other work as well.

As for the future, she has some options.

One is to head over to Australia to continue her career and be closer to family. She sees that as a “fresh start.”

An alternative is to continue her studies at EIT.

With the industry changing at pace, Brooking is interested in learning more about servicing electric vehicles.

She is considering enrolling in the NZ Certificate in Electric Vehicle Automotive Engineering (Level 5) when she finishes her current programme.

Her advice to other women wanting to enter the automotive engineering industry is “just do it”.

EIT Tairāwhiti School of Trades and Technology assistant head Tim Jagusch said the two most important attributes those industries looked for were time management and work ethic.

“Celia possesses these, along with a good attitude. All this contributes to her success, and she is an exemplar student.”