JESSE NEILL
WILLIAMSTOWN local Sarah Mills has been named South Australia’s most outstanding Trainee of the Year at the 2019 South Australian Training Awards.
The St Patrick’s graduate received the award on Friday night, having recently completed a Certificate III in Beauty Services with TAFE SA, and now working fulltime at Brazilian Beauty in North
Adelaide.
Sarah said she was shocked to have received the award.
“When I was on stage and they said my name I just forget everything,” she said.
“Then they asked if I wanted to do a speech and I was just on autopilot from there.
“I wasn’t expecting it, I was just going in happy knowing I was a finalist, so it was really exciting but it also hasn’t really hit me yet.”
Sarah’s vocational education and training first started at Brazilian Beauty where she did work experience at age 15.
After continually offering to work during school holidays, Sarah was asked to work on Thursdays and was able to participate in a school-based traineeship while also completing Year 12.
Sarah said this experience gave her confidence in the salon and built upon her learning at TAFE.
“This is why Vocational Education and Training (VET) is so important to me,” Sarah said.
“It gave me the experience to work with a wide range of clientele and employees, while also being able to operate and learn from a real workplace as well.
“This is why I encourage VET so strongly, I want to get the word out that there are opportunities other than school and university get to where you want to go.”
Sarah’s focus will continue on making people feel confident in their own skin.
She sees this work as a stepping stone to her ultimate goal of becoming a dermatologist, a dream she’s had ever since experiencing skin problems of her own as a teenager.
She would like to help people cope with similar conditions and come up with solutions that aren’t complex or harsh on her patients’ skin.
Sarah will now represent South Australia as a National Trainee of the Year nominee at the Australian Training Awards in Brisbane on November 21.