Little girls play with dolls, little boys play with cars.

Well that's not so according to Sherri-Ann Tucker.

As far back as Ms Tucker can remember she has had a love affair with cars and bikes and the engines inside them.

"I always wanted to be a mechanic,'' she recalled. "I had three brothers and they used to poke around with their bikes and I would just get in the way.

"At Warwick Secondary I chose to take mechanics -- I was the only girl in the class. But when I went to Bermuda College there were two other girls taking the mechanics course.'' For more than a decade Ms Tucker has been making inroads in what has traditionally been considered a man's world.

And she braved insurmountable odds to pursue her dream of becoming a mechanic.

Recently Ms Tucker added another feather in her cap -- in May she became the first female Transportation Control Department examiner.

"I was a mechanic at Bermuda Motors for almost ten years and then I worked at HWP for a few months,'' she recalled. "I interviewed at the TCD twice for this job and the second time I got lucky.'' Since May 17, Ms Tucker has spent her days putting her vast mechanical experience to work ensuring that the Island's cars and bikes are running at an optimum level.

"It's similar to my trade, but I'm not actually working on engines,'' she explained. "At the moment I'm testing cars and bikes and I have been out with a co-worker to test trailers.

"I will eventually be taking people on the road on their car and bike tests,'' she added. "It is a very busy job. Sometimes you don't get time for a break.'' Ms Tucker admitted that her career choice drew a great deal of criticism and teasing over the years -- something that still continues to this day.

"I took a lot of teasing for my choice while I was growing up,'' she said.

"Even now I know that some men think that I shouldn't be here in this position.'' But she said it was her determination and the support of her family that helped her reach her goal.

"My daddy bought me my first tool box,'' she noted. "My whole family was been very supportive of me, they even let me practice on their cars.

"They are very proud of what I have accomplished.'' Ms Tucker acknowledges that her recent achievement has instantly made her a role model for young Bermudians, especially little girls.

"I definitely know that people are looking over my shoulder,'' she said. "I have a lot of men who are curious and ask me why I chose this career.

"By rights, mechanics really is a man's job,'' she confessed. "A woman's body is not quite up for it. I had to work-out regularly to get physically and mentally fit for the job and lifting heavy things.'' And she had some words of advice for other young ladies who were considering choosing career paths that are traditionally male dominated.

"If your heart isn't in it, don't do it,'' she warned. "Your heart has to be in it because there's a lot of obstacles that will be in your way,'' she explained. "And people will throw things in your way. You just have to persevere.

"For me, the hardest part was just sticking in there and going home with dirt in your hair and finger nails,'' she chuckled.