Having just completed my GCSE, I was presented with the longest summer break of my time at secondary school. I had no clue how to fill the void I had while waiting for my results. Until one Friday evening when I received a message from a friend about an agile project management workshop with Mercedes. At first, I didn’t read the message and only focused on the part about Mercedes which as any f1 fan would do, and now knew I had to apply no matter what. So after I had so eagerly applied I decided to go back and read what the workshop entailed. Before my three-day workshop, I had no clue what agile project management was ( it’s a methodology in which you’ll have the ability to create and respond to change) and thought I’d have to take a risk and just attended to the best of my ability and see how much I could learn in two days before the visit to the Mercedes factory.
Do I regret my decision? No! Would I do it all again in a heartbeat? Yes!
Benefits I got (and you can too!) from stepping outside of my comfort zone to attend events include:
- A chance to speak to like-minded people. The thing I loved about my two days at Liverpool Street was the genuine connection formed within the group and I mainly think it was due to the fact we were all f1 fans and all shared a common goal, but honestly everyone at the workshop I met in person where the sweetest and I think that helped my fear of going to a place I knew no one. Some of my key moments of the workshop were all our reactions to Carlos Sainz’s move to Willaims we ended up putting the session on hold for a good 30 minutes so we could discuss it.
- Friendship. Me and my teammate Kc had grown very close over the two days and I was glad she’d always turned up as it made me somewhat less anxious for the day ahead. And, once we had made it into the operations center I rushed over to say hi to my friends because even though I’d known them for two days I missed them.
- Exclusive knowledge. Our tour guide was a senior design engineer called Russell Thomas ( we learned so much from him). We also got to see the ins and outs of the entire factory including the parts that were currently being transported to Monza, parts of the w14, and multiple prints of different races from over the years hung upon almost every wall of the factory. Also, we were told during our Agile workshop to ask to team at Mercedes how they implemented Agile into their jobs every day at the factory. Kc and Sofia had asked and we were lucky enough to be presented with a kanban board used in the factory!
- Insight into career goals. Being able to career map helped me solidify my goals for the future and motivated me to keep going. This is because you miss 100 % of the chances and opportunities you don’t take! We also got to ask anything we could think of and opinions on the current events in the driver’s markets. We were all thankful that we were able to speak to the engineers and the team without being undermined and infantilized as female f1 fans. The conversation and genuine laughter shared over lunch will be a core memory for us all.
The coach ride back to Bicester station had me still in shock trying to process the day I had just been through, I never would in a million years thought I’d had the opportunity to visit the team that not only made me discover not only f1 but motorsports as a whole. ( I will forever be thankful to the team for showing me there is so much more to life and sports and I should always strive for the best for myself).
This article was written by Mezghaan, read their full breakdown of the event, and more, here. Thanks to Mezghaan for sharing their experience with us!
