Where they are now - Liam Marsh

From the start of his journey at Dilworth School, Liam Marsh’s teachers always encouraged him to push hard and strive for excellence.
 
"There is not one moment where I think that the teachers didn’t want me to try my best, they pushed me hard and encouraged me to strive for excellence, and for that I owe a lot to the school."
 
This has stuck with Liam to this day and has been the driving force behind his recent achievement – claiming the title of Whakatane’s champion at the regional heats of the annual New Zealand Certified Builders Apprentice Challenge.
 
During his final years at school, Liam grew an interest in building and design. He talked to Hard Materials and Technology teacher, Mr Arnold, who encouraged Liam to do some work experience in building. Liam  then went to his parents to discuss the possibility of following his passion, and the rest is history.
 
Now, in his fourth and final year of his building apprenticeship, Liam’s perseverance and drive to be the best version of himself has reinforced his passion for building. It has pushed him to challenge himself - believing that everything is a learning experience.
 
Liam’s advice to students considering building as a future career is to not look at it as a field for people that don’t want to go to university, but as a trade where you can become successful if you have the mindset of wanting to be the best that you can be.
 
“You don’t necessarily have to have all the skills in the world but if you have the passion and the ability to learn that’s all you need. In a trade that’s forever changing having the ability to learn and to have the passion is valuable as you can take on the information and use it to better yourself.”
 
In terms of his dreams and aspirations, Liam has always liked the idea of designing homes, so he is considering doing a pre-trade course in design so he cannot only build his own homes, but also design them.
 
“There has been a ton of change in the building industry where a lot of people are going after small, transportable homes or cabins. So, I felt I can go down the path of building my own homes and starting a company down in the middle of the town and see how we go”.
 
With that in mind, Liam also hopes to be able to give young men the opportunity of doing an apprenticeship in his business one day.