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Jamie Baillie
Building her road to success
I have full support from my family, and my friends think it's really interesting I would choose this line of work.
Jamie Baillie
Jamie Baillie laughs when she recalls the reaction she receives when people see her operating a large grader, or driving a CAT truck. "Most people do a double-take when they pass by in their cars," she says. "Some honk their horns with approval, giving me the thumbs up!"
The 20-year-old grew up on a farm in Tatamagouche, so being around heavy equipment is nothing new. Living on a farm, she had lots of equipment to play with and lots of things to learn how to fix. By the time Jamie was 13, she was already an expert at changing the tire on the family tractor which would frequently break down in the middle of haying. "It took about 15 minutes, but my father and I became pretty good at it," she says.
Jamie admits she liked the idea of working in construction because it is a non-traditional career for females. "That's partly why I wanted to do this," she says. "I have full support from my family, and my friends think it's really interesting I would choose this line of work."
Jamie expects to graduate from the two year program offered by The Dexter Institute in the fall of 2006. The Dexter Institute is a partnership between the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) and Dexter Construction. Graduates who successfully complete the two-year program can expect to work in areas such as surveying, estimating, project management, civil construction technology, and heavy equipment operation. Jamie gives the Dexter Institute high marks when people ask her about the program. "I highly recommend it, especially because it gives you such a broad understanding of the construction industry," she says.
After spending the winter in the classroom, Jamie was back in the quarry this past spring for gear training. There she spent six weeks learning how to operate seven pieces of heavy equipment. From there, she expects to soon be back on the grader, and we have no doubt, she'll have no trouble building her road to success.
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