Well reflecting I think I consider myself pretty lucky to be in the position I am now, having done some of things I have, at the age of 24. After all, this time 4 years ago I was a fledgling 20 year old who had dropped out of university without a clue what to do next... I spent time applying for any and every job without ever getting much success until Stagecoach gave me an interview and took me on as a trainee driver!

During the 2 years I spent with them I managed to drive a great variety of vehicles and made lots of good friends, most of whom I still see on a daily basis wherever they now work. Stockton had a reputation for hiring and firing but I would say that I still enjoyed my time there, despite the pressures from higher up always being prevalent in the depot. The highlight of my career so far was getting the chance to work on secondment to Stagecoach UK Bus Events for 4 weeks during the Paralympics at London 2012, along with 8 other colleagues from Stockton. We were responsible for driving the 5-a-side football teams around to all of their training events and matches and whilst it meant long days, it wasn't the hardest work I've ever done!!

Then at the start of last year a position came up at Arriva at Stockton depot which I jumped at the chance to join them, one of my best friends in the enthusiast community got me in and of course I already knew the manager so that helped too! It is a notoriously difficult depot to get into, as the staff turnover here is the complete opposite to what I had been used to at Stagecoach. The variety of routes is vast too, and I've driven even more variety in vehicles too from some beautiful ones to some downright sheds. Also the opportunity to work at other depots pops up from time to time, some of you may remember I spent 4 weeks working from Jesmond last summer on Metro replacements when drivers from every depot were drafted in.

So where do I see myself going next? Well I think I am happy to stay as a driver for now, having just started on the small team of drivers on the Sapphire rota at Stockton, it will be nice to see the project grow and ultimately become successful. In the future I would definitely be looking to move upwards, hopefully opportunities will open up at the right times? You never can tell...

As for people looking to get into the industry, well I can't say I've not enjoyed myself and as long as you have an interest in the job you should do fine. Being an enthusiast does get you a fair bit of ribbing from colleagues but most of mine come to me (or a few others) if they ever want to know something (for example today I had 223 on the buggy and they wanted to know where it had come from and why it was here!!)