Lars

“You’ll have plenty of opportunities to explore different aspects of technology.”

Lars is now in his fourth year of the VMBO vocational track. He chose Sondervick because of its excellent dyslexia support. In his first year, he was introduced to various vocational tracks. That’s how he discovered Health and Social Services, Construction, Housing, and Interior Design, as well as Manufacturing, Installation, and Energy (PIE). He chose PIE. “My dad is a service technician. That’s why I’ve always been interested in technology.”

At PIE, you learn by doing. For example, you’ll learn how to work with metal, how to weld, and how to connect electrical components. You’ll also learn to operate machines and discover how technical systems work. “You do a lot of different things. That’s exactly what makes it so much fun. You start each class with a bit of theory. Then you get to work on the hands-on assignment yourself. The instructors help you if you get stuck.”

Discover what you enjoy

At PIE, you get plenty of opportunities to explore different aspects of engineering. Lars did an internship at Driessen last year. “That was really fun. I got to observe all kinds of areas in the factory. And I even got to do some things on my own.” Lars will be doing another internship this school year as well. “I’m currently looking for a company that does a lot of electrical engineering for machines. That’s a bit different from sheet metal work. That way, I can figure out what I really enjoy most.”

Lampshade and Welding

One of the projects that has left the biggest impression on Lars is the lampshade project. Together with an ASML employee, the students set to work on their own design. “You had to draw a lampshade yourself in a 3D program. Then the design was cut out using a laser cutter.” Lars applies what he learns at school to situations outside of school as well. Lars has a part-time job at a restaurant. A cart there broke down. “They wanted to hire a company to fix it. But I took the cart home and welded it myself.”