Daniel Karanges Speech
Good morning Ladies and Gentleman. My name is Daniel Karanges and I was fortunate enough to win a bronze medal in the Sheetmetal Technology category at the recent WorldSkills International Competition in Calgary, Canada.
A brief history about myself... I quit school at the end of Year 11. Needing a job, I thought I would get a trade and who wouldn't when you get paid to for doing it. I applied for an electrical apprenticeship through Stoddart Manufacturing, they came back and said we need at least the completion of yr12 for this position but we have a few positions open in the Sheetmetal field. I went “what the hell best offer so far”. So I took it.
At TAFE in my 2nd year of my apprenticeship, the teachers asked if I would like to do a WorldSkills Regional Competition for my trade. I thought “cool why not it's something different”. After doing the regional competition I was lucky enough to walk away with a Gold Medal. I said to myself "this is pretty cool". Unknown to me at that time, I had just started a journey that would change my life. 2 months before the WorldSkills Australia National Competition held in Sydney in 2008 I came down with glandular fever. I thought to myself, “that's it, I'm pulling out of the nationals”. Talking to my teachers and mentors about it, they all said “give it a go, who knows you could even walk away a gold medal.” After some thought, I said to myself " it would be pretty cool to win a gold medal while having glandular fever, that would really stick it to all the other competitors in my category.”
From then on that was my motivation, not to worry about the hard things I'm going though right now but look to what might come of this if I stick at it and give 110%.”
Arriving at the Nationals in Sydney, I was overwhelmed at the size of it all. As far as you could see to the left or to right were banners, Try’aTrade activities and all differing trades with all the machinery and tooling. I thought to myself "what have I gotten myself into here"? After the 3 days of gruelling competition we all went to the awards night confident but very unsure of where we had placed and how well we had actually done.
Now S beingwhere it is in the alphabet, it took a while to get though the other trades to get to mine. 3rd was called out then 2nd, my heart racing a million miles an hour and thinking to myself "I must have stuffed up big, their jobs looked a lot better than mine did". Then 1st was called and it was me, without hesitation I jumped to my feet threw my fist in the air, screamed at the top of my voice and went up to receive my Gold Medal. Everything else after that was a bit of a blur. There was a break for about 6 months then there was training for the International Competition. It was a very big learning curve for me. Having to prioritise work, friends and basically my whole life so I could give myself a sporting chance against the world's elite. It was a hard task but well worth it. Having training camps and a mock competition throughout the year as well as having mentors and trainers around you made it easier but it still felt like I had very big shoes fill. I trained 12-15 hours a week going through all different things that I could think of that would come up in the competition and trying to give myself the best opportunity to adapt to the 30% change that would happen to the project at the start of the 4 day competition.
The day we left Oz until the end of the comp in Calgary was a time that I will never forget. The focus, the determination, the mental attitude we were all in was one of we are going to do our best and nothing will waver us in our pursuit of excellence. From the towering ups to the lowest depths we operated as a team, a unit, we supported each other, kept each other going. That is something that I will never forget and take though the rest of my life. The awards nite in Calgary was one of exhilaration. My heart was beating at 10 million miles an hour. The emotion, the sensation in the arena was something I have never felt. The roar of the crowd when their respected country won a medal drowned out every sound. It was overwhelming. Then Sheetmetal category came up. At that stage my heart was beating at about 20 million miles. 3rd was called. It was me. I jumped up out of my seat and stood there, I had NO idea what to do. You would run through in your head what you would do if you won a medal, but in the heat of the moment I was like, Wow. I did it, it all came down to this moment and I did it.
That night Australia won 2 Gold, 5 Silver and 5 Bronze medals. And we retained our ranking as 5th in the world.
Since coming home from the International Competition doorways have opened for me at work. My employer has offered me to do a Diploma of Engineering and later down the track who knows I may want to do a Bachelor of Engineering. In everything I am confident, knowing that whatever is thrown at me no matter at work or in my personal life I am able to get through it and come out on top. If it wasn't for the WorldSkills Competitions it would have taken another 10 or so years to develop the same confidence. If the boss asks me to make a complex piece of equipment there would be no hesitation. Because I know that I will be able to make it. Not to an average quality, but to a quality that is top notch.
Now here we are in 2010 eagerly awaiting the next National Competition held here in Brisbane. I am waiting anxiously in anticipation, to see the next generation of Australia's best compete in 50 days time, May 7-9. What a feeling it would have been to compete on home turf...
In conclusion I would like to Thanks WorldSkills Australia for the time, effort and all the behind the scene things that they do to make these Competitions happen. Also Stoddart Manufacturing my employer for the support and guidance and opportunities they have given me throughout my apprenticeship, trade and my future with the company. "Go you Queenslanders"
Thank you
