Over Yahya Abdi

My name is Yahya Abdi, and I am 26 years old. I fled from Somalia due to war together with my family, my father, mother, and brothers. We came to the Netherlands in 2011. It was not easy to adapt to this, but fortunately things are going well now. After high school I did the training "care and welfare assistant", which I successfully completed. During my internship I felt satisfied when I helped the elderly, but I noticed that care did not suit me. That's why I took a gap year to work and think about what education I wanted to continue. I worked at a company in Tilburg that made plastic lids/caps, where I worked happily as an operator for six months. However, I still felt the desire for diplomas because working is still possible. I started looking for vocational training vacancies as a process operator and that's how I ended up at ASML and Summa College. After an intake interview with my mentor, supervisor, and team leader we decided that it might be better to start as an “Assistant Process Operator” instead of Vapro A right away. With my permission we agreed, and after completing my training as an “Assistant Process Operator” I moved on to year 2 of Vapro A and after completing my Vapro A I didn’t want to continue studying and I thought it was okay, because I had been given the opportunity to work fulltime at ASML in the 5-shift system. Apparently, they were very satisfied with me and my work. I told my mentor from school that I had been given such an opportunity and that I didn’t want to let it go, but in the end I decided to continue studying in the 5-shift system, even though I didn’t want to at first. It was a shame because I would have many exemptions at Vapro B. After hard work I finally got my Vapro B, and I paid for it myself because I went to fulltime and was no longer an official vocational student. My mentor nominated me for the "Operator of the Year”, and I hope you vote for me! Thank you in advance.