Nichole Tucker-Raynor grew up in a neighbourhood filled with boys, so naturally she would hang out with them, and when they got older she also shared their interest in bikes. When they hit the road, she went along as a passenger. She loved the sound of the finely-tuned engines, and she always wondered how they got their bikes to go so fast. Then there was her uncle, Leon Stines, a fine mechanic in whose workshop she was “always fiddling with things”.

As fascinated as she was by motors, however, Miss Tucker-Raynor was no tomboy. On the contrary, she was a feminine and pretty girl who took pride in her appearance, and was a child model - something she enjoyed so much that her ambition was to become a professional model.

Nonetheless, when she entered her senior year at Warwick Secondary School and was able to choose certain classes, the young woman did not hestitate.

“I wanted to do mechanics but they wouldn't let me - you know how it is in school,” she says. “However, when I got to my fifth year we had day release programmes that allowed us to go out into the work force. I chose to be a mechanic, so I went to Bermuda Motors and worked with Sherri Tucker. She inspired me a lot.”

Unfortunately for Miss Tucker-Raynor, however, she was subsequently involved in an accident, and by the time she had recovered it was too late to complete the day release programme, although she remained focussed on mechanics.

But what about the modelling?

“As you get older you learn more about life,” she says. “It takes you down certain roads, and you have to learn about those roads, so I stopped modelling and changed my lifestyle, and I am living now as a rasta,” she says.

In January, 1998 Miss Tucker-Raynor gave birth to a daughter, Rajahni, and nine months later joined HWP as an apprentice motor mechanic.

“And I've been working there ever since,” she says proudly.

The young Bermudian is pursuing a four-year City & Guilds programme, which involves both practical experience and theory, and has already gained her first certificate. In two years' time she hopes to have her certificate and diploma as a certified mechanic.

In a busy commercial garage that is almost exclusively a male domain, Miss Tucker-Raynor says being a woman has not adversely affected her relationship with her colleagues, who treat her with respect.

“We all joke around,” she says. “Everybody gets into little arguments occasionally but we get over it. That is my family. If I leave home upset, when I get to work just being around them I know we will laugh. It is really nice.”

As for that neat and tidy side, the trainee mechanic says her choice of profession has not changed that aspect of her personality. While she accepts the dirt, grease and grime that comes with the territory, and only rarely chooses to wear gloves, off-duty she preserves her feminine side, right down to immaculate nails.

“I try to be a woman as much as I can,” she assures. “I get reminded quite often of how to sit or act because sometimes I do act too boyish.

“I used to wear jeans, boots and high-top sneakers, then someone said, ‘Why don't you start dressing more like girls?' so when I feel like looking like a lady I dress accordingly. Mostly when I am out I wear a skirt, although sometimes I like to be casual.”

At work Miss Tucker-Raynor gets down to business in her coveralls, a neat kerchief covering her locks, but always with her earrings intact.

Asked how she knows her way around all kinds of engines, and if she ever has parts left over when she's taken an engine apart, she says:

“While you are learning the various steps you really have to pay attention and remember what goes where, but once you get to know engines they are easier to put back together. Also, when you get used to using the ramps everything becomes much simpler after a while. It's like a regular routine.”

The job is not without its hazards, of course, and the trainee mechanic remembers the time she was changing CV boots and the drive shaft flew out and struck her in the head, leaving her with a large “egg”.

So far, she can only recall making one embarrassing error, when she was carrying out an oil change and put new oil in on top of the old. Fortunately, her instructor helped her to work through the problem.

Always very organised, Miss Tucker-Raynor says she must manage her time even better now in order to accomplish all of her goals, not least the raising of her precious daughter.

“I am a very busy person. In addition to my day job, I clean offices at night, and I also study whenever I can. In fact I am really surprised at myself. Before I had Rajahni I always prepared things in advance, and after I had her I became even more organised.

“You have to give your child guidance in order to have her grow up the right way. I feel I take care of my daughter very well.”

And what advice will she give Rajahni when she turns 16 and wants to ride a motorised bike?

“I will tell her that I used to ride under-age, and she has a choice to take the right steps or not. I will show her as much guidance, morals and values as I can.”

In addition to all her other responsibilities, Miss Tucker-Raynor also finds fulfill her role as a defender on the Rude Girls football team.

As to the future, the trainee motor mechanic has plans for that too.

“First, I would like to have my own garage,” she says. “I have talked it over with a couple of my classmates and I wouldn't mind getting together with them to run our own business. Then, when I get to about 35-40, if I don't want to be a mechanic any more I will go back to school so I can take a highly qualified job in an office.”