I DID. YOU CAN.
People from a wide range of backgrounds, jobs, interests and geographical locations share their stories. How did they get to where they are ? Are they living the life they imagined when they were 14 years old ? What advice would they offer a young person setting off on the journey of life ? Phil Crompton - author of " In Search of My Alumni" and a former school leader - finds out how they did it and how others can do something similar. There will be something for everyone in this series. We all need role models. Here are plenty.
I DID. YOU CAN.
Eric Greenhalgh : Mining engineer
Eric had passed the 11 plus and went to a Grammar School. But it didn't suit him. He had little interest in an academic education and at the first opportunity he left to start work as a coal miner. Eric was identified as a young man with promise and was encouraged to take qualifications and ,eventually, he became a mechanical mining engineer. A serious job in a serious workplace. He had assumed that his career would be spent in the mining industry but by the 1990's the government had closed all the mines and Eric needed to find alternative employment and further qualifications.
Eric's story shows that it's hard to predict where life will take you when you are 14 but with hard work and some flexibility it's amazing what can happen.