Connie Wong

I have been a North Westminster resident for many years now but grew up in Folkestone, Kent by the sea but originally, my family and I are from Hong Kong. Before I started studying at WAES, I was a student at the Capital City College at the Tottenham campus, studying Level 2 Understanding Domestic Retrofit.

I decided, after a lengthy career in retail sales and management ended, that I wanted to career pivot and work in the green skills sector. As it was very different to the type of work I was doing before, I wanted to learn as much as possible. In order to understand which pathway in this sector would best suit me, I took the opportunity to study a few courses at WAES. I started with a short community gardening course which WAES ran in conjunction with HCGA, then I enrolled on the Level 3 Retrofit Advisor and Domestic Energy Assessor Bootcamp.

I found all the courses that I have attended at WAES thoroughly engaging and enjoyable. With the community Japanese gardening course, I had the chance to learn how to create art using plants through hapazome techniques, and to make my own kokedama, a traditional Japanese sculptural art formed of living plants, string and moss which still sits in my home proudly today. It has really encouraged me to get more into gardening and reap the wellbeing and mindfulness benefits of both creating art and immersing myself in nature. The green skills centre at WAES has the most amazing lab including working rigs of solar panels, and air source heat pumps to name just a few. I find I do learn better through visually seeing and by doing, rather than just reading from a textbook, so it really helped me to embed the key concepts of domestic retrofit and renewable technologies seeing it in person.

The teaching on the Green Skills Bootcamp can move at a fast pace, and is taught in person, as well as through live webinars. Although there is a lot of information to take in, Andreea, my tutor, was always available to support and having resources such as the immersive lab to demonstrate how to carry out an energy assessment correctly, as well as having field trips to see buildings at different stages of a retrofit was also very helpful. Besides learning itself, Andreea also flagged up employment opportunities which were relevant for those of us seeking work, and also organised trips to shows such as Futurebuild, and Solar and Storage to see emerging green technologies and latest innovations in green policy and sustainability, allowing us to network with others working in the green and construction industries.

Knowing that this summer I will be professionally accredited and trained to practise as a DEA in the UK, as well as being recognised by WAES with a Learner Award this month! I felt a boost to my confidence and gaining new qualifications restore my self-belief and purpose, and sense of hope for the future. I have several chronic health conditions which have impacted me in recent years, and at times trying to manage these health issues, alongside work and life felt overwhelming and challenging.

This summer, I’m directly involved in a few exciting plans and projects launching in my local area and community, all of which are linked to retrofit, sustainability and the looking after nature and the environment. One is to do with water canal testing and monitoring, and another of my projects is retrofitting the street tree pits in my area to boost nature biodiversity and address issues of urban drought and flooding. To complement my existing retrofit qualifications, I am also currently studying online with the ‘Greenworkx’  Domestic Energy Advisor academy,  to gain a Level 3 C&G accredited qualification to be able to allow me to support individuals experiencing fuel poverty, and implement low-cost energy efficiency measures in their homes.

Going back to education and attending college in person has definitely been the right step for me, versus learning on-line at home. It has enlarged my circle and network as I have met so many like-minded people such as my fellow classmates, who share enthusiasm and passion to improving our city and moving towards net-zero. I also pledge to continue learning, and plan to attend the teaching training course at WAES in the autumn as I want to be able to create inspiring and engaging content around environmental sustainability, net zero and retrofit to deliver at community grass-roots level.

Barack Obama was quoted in 2014 as saying ” We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.” – a serious and sombre statement. That was 12 years ago now – if you believe what he says ( as I did ), I really encourage you to take that step to study green skills and go on to find work that helps fight climate change. Whether you do it at WAES, online or at another learning establishment is your call, but I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and come out better for it in more ways ( WAES) than one!