As a child, my friends and I spent all our time riding dirt jumps. Unsurprisingly, I frequently broke my bike. As was the case for my other friends, all my money went towards repairs at the local bike shop and I was seemingly eternally moneyless. On my 12th birthday, my dad bought me the ‘Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair’, and with time I got better and better at fixing my bike independently. At sixteen, I landed a part-time job as a bike mechanic. Working in a bicycle repair shop gave me insight into mechanical componentry - the start of my engineering journey.After sixth-form, I bought repair tools to start my own garage workshop. Here I repaired, powder coated, and sold second-hand bikes to fund a trip to New Zealand with two friends. Over three months, we travelled from Auckland to Dunedin along the East Coast, and back up through Queenstown in our 1996 Honda Civic. We camped most nights, and surfed most days, visiting some incredible spots such as Raglan point break. I also got to ride some world-renowned downhill tracks in Queenstown on a Giant Glory, the bike of my childhood dreams. Upon returning home from NZ, I planned to undertake an engineering apprenticeship, but I had doubts about this decision. I was no longer willing to undertake an apprenticeship because it might confine me to one industry and I wasn't ready to make that commitment yet. I wondered if I could learn the skills required to design the Giant Glory downhill bike which I used to scale the rugged slopes of Queenstown. Having learnt these skills, could I apply them to help design a car or a wind turbine? One of my friends was going to University and after considering my options I decided to apply. I studied engineering because I like bikes, but when it comes to my future, I believe that my options are limitless.I think childhood me would be proud of the progress I have made. I carried out nanomaterials research for my dissertation, aiming to synthesise low-cost MoS2 electrocatalysts for scalable hydrogen evolution. I was awarded a first for this piece of work, but most importantly it significantly developed me into an independent and capable student. At the end of my study I reached my goal of achieving a first class engineering degree. What's more, I recently moved to Manchester to start my new job at Inovar Ltd designing railway electrification systems (OLE). I am very excited about my future with this dynamic and forward thinking company and I aim help Inovar expand to it's full potential alongside my kind and compassionate colleagues.