Raginee Scudamore arrived in the UK from Mauritius nearly 30 years ago. Having taken a long career break to raise a family, Raginee started working as a food service assistant for the Catering Department at the University of Buckingham in 2016.
She recently completed a Level 2 Commis Chef Apprenticeship with 可大学 at the age of 52. She has also been shortlisted in this year’s BAME Apprenticeship Awards, and now tells us about her experience in her own words.
I remember the exhilaration and excitement of the first day, sat in my car in the college car park – the moment of no return. I felt anxious, nervous and full of anticipation all at the same time. 我还以为我太老了, but I took control of my emotions and told myself ‘there is no turning back’ and I must follow my dreams.
我的新生活像龙卷风一样开始了. I attended college once a week while working full-time, including some evenings and weekends. There was plenty of challenging coursework to keep me busy and of course my family to think of too. I embraced the challenge and felt hungry to complete it to the best of my ability.
The best aspects of my apprenticeship were meeting new people, helping the young apprentices when they were at their lowest moments, 学习新的技能和食谱, 征服了我对数学的恐惧. 我喜欢去酒店, 比如博罗市场, 粗话市场, 科林西亚和伦敦的丽兹酒店. It was all exciting and inspirational and made me realise how much I wanted to be the very best chef I could be. My week of work experience at The Ritz was the best thing I have ever done in my life.
It was obvious right from the start that I was so much older than the rest the rest of the group and that felt like a huge disadvantage. 当我遇到我的导师托尼·奥克斯利, I felt completely at ease as he welcomed me as a mature student, embraced my BAME background and made me feel like I was part of the team. I was made to feel very welcome and after a while I completely forgot about the age barrier.
It is a great honour to have been shortlisted for a BAME Apprenticeship Award. I am delighted to be an ambassador to others thinking about applying for an apprenticeship, 无论年龄大小，都要证明这一点, 性别或种族, 你可以在任何时候开始或改变一份职业. It is also hugely rewarding and has made the journey worthwhile to get me where I am today at the age of 52.
It is never too late to do an apprenticeship and achieve your goal – go for it.