People of Wyma: Jennifer Fretwell

The people at Wyma make up a very diverse bunch, and few people embody that better then Jennifer Fretwell, one of our fabricators and resident health and safety guru. We spoke with Jen about how she found herself as a welder in our workshop and her experience working at WYMA.  Tell us a bit about your backgroundI was studying political science at university, but I started getting really interested in Russia after reading a book on the Cold War. I thought that a really good way to learn more would be to study the language, so my degree is in Russian language. I’ve never been to Russia, but it’s on the list of things to do!  After that I did various jobs – I sea kayak guided for a while, ran vocational facilities for people with intellectual disabilities – but eventually, I decided I was going to study to be a teacher. I started that but after a few weeks, I realized that I didn’t want to do it. I panicked a little about what I was going to do, but I’m an arty person and I like making stuff so I’ve always had this feeling that I’d love to weld.  How did you get into welding?Sometimes I would pass big steel-working places with the doors open and I’d always look inside and think it was pretty cool. The Christchurch Polytechnic (now Ara Institute of Canterbury) offered a welding and fabrication course so I thought I’d learn to weld.  At the end of that course, I was kind of afraid of going and looking for work experience, being a woman in such a male-dominated trade. My tutor put me in touch with someone at Wyma and they asked me to come in. I started work experience the next day, and when my course finished the month after that I was offered an apprenticeship and I’ve been here ever since.  What does a normal workday look like for you (if such a thing exists)?On a normal welding workday, I would work on whatever jobs are ongoing. I talk with some of the more senior fabricators about what’s going to happen if I do this or that – I’m always trying to do a better weld than the one before. People at Wyma are always trying to do a better job, and it’s always interesting when I’m constantly trying to improve. I’m also the Health and Safety Advisor so I’m often working on that. ACCESS to the complete article Picture, Jen (second from right) on-site with other Wyma team members