Foreword
If you have an appreciation of history, you will be pleased to know that you are participating in a program that has roots that go back hundreds of years. From the earliest times, people have bound themselves or their children into apprenticeships to learn a trade. Serving an apprenticeship has never been an easy task. In the beginning, apprentices only received room and board for their long hours of toil in unhealthy and dangerous working conditions. Today, as conditions have improved, apprentices still toil for long hours, but they now receive wages for their efforts.
With any luck, the next five years may be some of the most difficult of your life. Not because you learned a new trade, but because you grew as a person. These five years will put you in contact with new ideas, new challenges and new people. Some things you will like and some you will not. That’s life. But if you can rise to the challenge of the program, learn your trade and broaden your horizons as a person, then you will have successfully completed the goals of the apprenticeship program.
There is no magic involved in completing the apprenticeship program – no rabbits to be pulled out of the hat – it is only hard work (both at school and on the job) and a stick-to-it attitude that will accomplish your goal. How hard the program will be for you is up to you. You can meet the challenge with a positive attitude or you can make your life miserable with a negative attitude. It is completely up to you.
The people involved with the apprenticeship program are there to help you. Take advantage of their knowledge, skills and desire to see you accomplish your goals. When you need help, ask for it. When you have problems, talk to someone. And when you think that you cannot make it another day, reach out your hand. Someone will be there to help you.
