BALRANALD Central School year-11 Student Kadison Dalton is preparing to represent his region at the WorldSkills Australia National Championships in Brisbane.
Kadison is one of nine members in the SuniTafe team that will be competing.
The participants will be accompanied by a number of SuniTafe teachers who are acting as mentors, team leaders or judges.
His entry into the WorldSkills competition came after encouragement from his TAFE and metals teacher, Josh Teed.
“It was a day off school, so it was a definite yes from me,” he said.
“It sounded like a good opportunity and a chance to spend a day in the SuniTAFE metals facility.”
The Championships are held every two years at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on June 12 to 15.
Kadison will be up against the country’s best tradespeople in the VETiS Metals and Engineering category.
“We’ll be tested on something we haven’t seen before, so that’ll be a good challenge,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ll be too worried about what anyone else is doing.
“I just want to do the best welds I can and complete everything on time.”
Kadison has been training hard to prepare for the competition, including a training camp in Melbourne last month.
“The camp was really beneficial,” he said.
“It helped me get used to working in a large facility with lots of people around.
“I also learnt how to adjust voltage and amp settings for different types of welds, and we practiced working from incomplete plans to simulate real competition pressure.”
Kadison also took away some advice from previous competitors.
“At the SuniTAFE presentation night, one of last year’s winners told us to ‘enjoy the experience and give it a red-hot crack because everyone has a chance.’ That really stuck with me,” he said.
Looking towards the future, Kadison said he’d like to combine his agricultural background with his technical skills.
“I’m a farm kid from Balranald,” he said.
“I’d like to work in the agriculture sector, using what I’ve learnt to build and maintain equipment.”
