Mark crosses the stage, going from plumber to teacher

By Greg Chapman

Mark Agnew has officially traded in the tools for school, farewelling years as a plumber to become a fully qualified teacher with a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) from CQUniversity.

For almost 20 years, Mark was a plumber, specialising in the industrial sector, working for some of the largest companies in South-East Queensland, including Visy, Orora, Cross-River Rail, Veolia, National Storage, and Queensland Urban Utilities, to name a few.

While he admits the initial decision to transition from a trade to teaching wasn’t an easy one, taking the path to university study was supported by funding from the Queensland Government’s Department of Education.

“It feels great to have completed my Bachelor of Education (Secondary) with Distinction. When I first started the course, the study was what worried me the most and to be honest it has made me immensely proud to have been able to complete not only my studies, but to finish a year early,” he said.

“Taking the step into education, while daunting to begin with, has transformed my life. In plumbing, I was pigeon-holed into my area of expertise, but in education, a new career opportunity is always on the horizon and that excites me to keep pushing. I think that’s what makes every day seem different and life isn’t monotonous anymore.

“I learned a lot from the course. It was like a condensed apprenticeship where you learned everyone else’s ways of teaching and found what worked best for you.

“Being able to do this with a safety net was a very supportive and easy transition into teaching.”

As part of his specialised course, Mark undertook an internship placement with Mabel Park State High School, but he is now teacher with Kingston State College in Logan City and he says his future is looking bright. 

“My wife and I had our fifth child in the last semester of my studies and since having our baby girl, I truly now know what I missed out on with my other children's early years. While I cannot get the other years back, I am now able to balance work and life a lot better,” he said.

“I have always said that if you are thinking about becoming a teacher, just give it a go, it really is an amazing career and you can have a positive effect on so many people’s lives by bringing real-world experience to their classrooms.”

Mark was also a recipient of a CQUniCares Technologies Teaching Bursary during his studies.