? is descended from generations of tradesmen. His decision to make carpentry his career began not quite naturally, but almost. Although his grandfather was a carpenter, and he often worked alongside him as a child, and his father was a foreman at BCM-McAlpine, his first inclination was to become an engineer. Yet when his then-colleagues at BCM-McAlpine told him carpentry was a good and challenging trade, he realised that he preferred it to engineering and elected to make it his chosen career. So when his boss asked him if he wanted to go to school to upgrade his skills, he did not hesitate.

?My family have been tradesmen for generations and they always figured that working hard and trying to accomplish something was better than hanging out on the streets. The longest route is the safest route,? he says.

It matters not that his ultimate wish is to be biologist. Since no knowledge is wasted, he figures that taking the three-year Bermuda College carpentry course has taught him to be more attentive to his work, more outgoing, and to look for the best results.

?It has put me on a level of trying to do things correctly and feel good about it,? he says. ?It combines both theory and practical.?

Like his fellow students, Mr. Simmons has been surprised by the depth and breadth of the course. Not only does it focus on woodwork but also includes metalwork, carpet laying, cabinet installation, roofing, stucco finishing, soffit systems, reading blueprints for electricians and more.

?It has been amazing, and I am really impressed. It was more than I expected. As the modules went on it got better and better, and was more engineering than anything else,? he says. ?Also, we have learned American, Canadian and British systems, which means we are equipped to work anywhere in the world.?

Currently employed by Greymane Contracting Ltd., Mr. Simmons also does a lot of work on the side.

?I have been in construction since I was nine. I have always been a worker,? he says.

He lists his off-duty interests as ?health related? ? Tai Chi, and learning how to heal people with and without medicine.

To young people wondering what career to pursue, the carpentry graduate believes they should have two options.

?I feel they should learn any of the trades as well as something in an office. The more choices you have, the more opportunities you can reach in life so that you can benefit generations to come.?s focus is electronics and telecommunications, and like his fellow students he has been amazed at the depth of the Bermuda College course.

?They give you a basic outlook on everything that (the twin fields) cover, which in turn can open up other doors in a particular field, or, if you go away, you have already got the basics,? he says.

When he came out of high school, Mr. Lindo had no idea what he wanted to do, so he worked at the Cellular Centre and Phones Plus as a way of not wasting time. It wasn?t long, however, before he realised that he would like to learn a great deal more about telecommunications and electronics.

?Obviously, I looked at the College, but the National Council for Construction, Education and Research certificate (NCCER) was not available back then, so I was doing a telecommunications course,? he says. ?After two semesters the NCCER became available and the College was willing to work with the previous course to incorporate the knowledge I had already acquired into the full NCCER programme. I had to backtrack a little, but it wasn?t as bad as starting all over again. I continued to work during the day for the Cellular Centre and Phones Plus, and attended the College two evenings a week.?

Business decisions meant that, in addition to various types of telephones, other features such as pagers and accessories, small and home office telephone systems and installation of domestic cabling were added to the company?s interests, for which Mr. Lindo?s course became invaluable. As a result, he sees his future with Phones Plus.

?The phone systems we got into a year ago have pretty much taken off, so that is increasing business a lot. Now that I am familiar with them I can bring in more customers, and it is better to know what you are talking about,? he says. ?It has been an excellent course.?

His advice to young people looking for a career?

?Learn as much as you can about (a trade) as well as office work. Then you can decide if you want to be self-employed once you know the ropes, for then you can take care of the accounting as well as going out in the field and other things.?

In terms of his own future, Mr. Lindo wants to go on and learn about how to run a business because ?nothing lasts forever?.

?From what I learned at the College as well as at Phones Plus I can go off on my own if I want to. I can also work at Belco, BTC, TBI or Cable & Wireless. It has opened up a lot of doors because now I understand much more about their operations.? is an experienced plumber who is known in the trade as ?The Plumbing Legend?.

When it comes to professionalism and expertise, it seems the lady can?t be beat. Employed by Air Care, she has worked on some of the biggest and best sites on the Island: everything from CedarBridge to Tucker?s Town, and while it may be unusual to see a woman putting a wrench to the pipes, it seems she is well respected by all the men on building sites, not to mention all the male plumbers.

?Oh yes, Yolanda knows her stuff,? her fellow students assure.

In fact, Ms Pearson is so good that today she seldom gets what she calls ?the dirty jobs? such as unblocking toilets and drains. Instead, she is designing plumbing systems for new buildings and putting in super-duper bathrooms for the rich and famous. Certainly, she is no ?powder puff plumber?. Instead, she is tough, funny, and thoroughly capable. While she draws the line at lifting a bathtub by herself unless it is fibreglass, toilets and piping for showers and bathtubs, for example, are easily hefted.

If she?s that good, the question naturally arises: Why has she taken the Bermuda College course?

The answer, like her work, is straight to the point.

?(Current employer) Air Care chose me to do this programme because I have never experienced college, and I wanted to be able to go back and get that feeling of being in college. Being out in the field for so long and then doing the programme has been excellent. Everything I read in the book coincided with what I have done in the field.?

A fully skilled mechanic today, Ms Pearson?s interest in plumbing began shortly after her mother died. She was a high school student with no funds to go to college, so in 1987 she got a plumbing job.

?I thought it was a challenge initially, but I said, ?I?m going to stick to this? and I was determined I was going to be the best plumber there is,? she says.

Mr. Vance (Super) Fox of Advanced Engineering was the teenager?s first employer, and during the five years she was with the firm she learned ?most of the basics?. Next came approximately ten years with another employer, where she covered all aspects of residential plumbing, and then she moved back and forth for some years between Air Care and Bermuda Air Conditioning (BAC), during which she gained experience in a completely different aspect of the trade: industrial plumbing. Currently with BAC, Ms Pearson numbers some very big projects among her accomplishments, including the new Miles Market, CedarBridge Academy, the Airport, and Ross Perot?s home. She has just finished a supervisory job on a Tucker?s Town multi-million dollar property which, in addition to three cottages, boasts a main house with 15 bathrooms.

Today, Ms Pearson is a fully experienced mechanic with 15 years field work behind her. Swimming pools, jacuzzis, bath tubs ? they?re all in a day?s work, as is plastering and an understanding of electrical work.

?I am at the top of my game,? she says proudly. ?Whenever I do a job I always have it in mind that it is for myself and I try to apply that to all the jobs I do. I am the first and last to come into a new house that is under construction. You pick up a lot of ideas on construction sites. Very seldom do I get dirty, although taking care of the Carriage House after Fabian was a dirty job.?

If plumbing seems an unromantic job for a woman, forget it. Ms Pearson?s one-time boss is not only a plumber but also her fianc?.

?Men respect me, they really do,? she assures.

She loves her work so much that she really looks forward to getting up each day. She works six days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. while raising three children. In her own home she has three bathrooms, all of which she designed herself.

?When you can sit back, see where you came from, and look at the finished project, that really sweets me,? she says.

Asked what advice she would give young people considering the trade, the dynamic go-getter does not hesitate: ?Your first five years as an apprentice are going to be hard because you are constantly doing hard work. After that it is up to you how long it takes you to learn the basics. Once that?s done, plumbing is so easy. It is also an excellent-paying job.?took the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning course (HVAC) while working at Bermuda Air Conditioning. His decision to enhance his current career came in a roundabout way. As a high school and college student he was always keen on physics and mathematics, but less so on swotting. To him, there was always something better to do than study. During his first year in college he studied engineering, but it didn?t grab him enough to stay on, so he returned home to ponder another career path.

First Mr. Maughan enrolled in the Bermuda College hospitality management programme but eventually decided that wasn?t for him either, so at a friend?s suggestion he joined Air Care as an apprentice welder/pipe fitter doing sheet metal work.

?Ten years later here I am,? he smiles. ?I have always been into building things and figuring out how things work, and I have a good background in physics and science. Growing up, when my dad embarked on his winter projects (around the house) I really looked forward to them.?

It was, however, two years after joining Air Care before Mr. Maughan decided air-conditioning was really the field for him, so he then enrolled in a City and Guilds course at the Bermuda College to increase his basic knowledge and increase his prospects for advancement. Through a series of restructuring programmes at the College, he eventually wound up in its NCCER course, which he describes as ?great?.

?With the training equipment that is in the workshop, and the experience and informative instructions, it has given me a broader perspective than just working in Bermuda because the industry is only so large here. I didn?t find the course too difficult, having worked seven or so years in the field beforehand and done the classic apprenticeship. In coming to the College I was doing things in reverse: applying the theory to the practical, and it has been extremely useful.?

Summing up his chosen career, Mr. Maughan says: ?I like anything that moves, can be built, taken apart and put back together again. Air conditioning is a field where you have a variety of work and no two days are the same.?

Saying that he would ?definitely recommend? air conditioning to young people seeking a career, he also had high praise for the HVAC course at the Bermuda College.

?You learn so much more than just air conditioning,? he said. ?It also encompasses basic electrical, plumbing and chill applications, not just refrigerant access. You need to know about air movements, and especially in my area, where I do installations, you learn a lot in the field about general construction because you are dealing with all aspects of it. You are working with other trades to get the job done. It is definitely an excellent field to get into, and it is steady work even in wintertime. There is always a project beginning for the next summer. I totally recommend both the trade and the College course.?

Mr. Maughan warns, however, that the course requires serious application.

?It is not the easiest to start with. There is a lot on the academic side of the trade: maths, physics and science, but it is well worth it in the end. As Elliott Simmons says, ?The longest route is the safest route?.?