Ms Shilcock will on November 16 sit her final exam in her Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician.

"It's coming up quickly, but I'm confident, I've put a lot of work into getting prepared for it," she said.

"I don't think it's hit me yet because I've been in crazy study mode for so long. My opinion is you're a true electrician when you can actually stand on your own two feet and not rely on or fall back on anyone."

Ms Shilcock started her studies at TAFE NSW Tighes Hill in June 2018, after successful stints in events, banking and tourism.

She said her journey is a reminder there are several pathways besides the Higher School Certificate towards a successful and rewarding career.

"Keep being persistent, because if you want it and you work hard for it, it will come to you," she said. "You can achieve great things, you've just got to put your mind to it. It's going to come with its challenges, but you've got to unlock your brain and think and do things in a way that works for you."

Ashtonfield's Ms Shilcock, 26, received a diagnosis of dyslexia when she was in year four. "My mum pulled me out and put me in a small school in Glen William, which was good because I got a lot of one-on-one attention and they brought me from a year one level up to year six and I didn't have to repeat anything," she said.

She said she didn't receive the same kind of support at her high school and was asked to leave in year 11.

Ms Shilcock had been working in hospitality and events while at school and so decided to pursue a Diploma of Event Management at TAFE NSW. "I basically left school illiterate," she said. "I could read a little bit, rough stuff, but it wasn't great. [At the course] I thrived because they stripped it back and I was learning core things... I did really well and I learned how to read and write off an event planning book, all in six months."

She worked for 11 months as a telephone banking consultant and for three-and-a-half years as a travel consultant. Within a year she was one of the company's top sellers. But she didn't want to work in an office forever. Growing up on a small property she had wanted to pursue a trade, which she said had only been pushed towards male students at her school's career days. "Working in an office I just longed to be in a physical sort of a job, but I never thought I was smart enough to do it. I knew I was physically strong enough, but I never knew I was smart enough."

She shared her dreams and doubts over a year with her "calming force" fiancee Derek Edwards. "One day he came home with a pink pair of work boots and he said 'You can do this Lucy, you've proven to yourself every time you've applied yourself to something you can do it, you've never actually failed at anything'. He said to me 'I'll support you, whatever you need, it's going to be tough, but you can do it'."

She considered a range of trades but kept coming back to electrotechnology, which TAFE told her was one of the most difficult to gain entry into. She gained her apprenticeship in commercial construction and prepared for an exam, in which she would need to show year 10 equivalent competency in maths.

"I had to work really hard and I used to get tutoring twice a week, while working full-time, while doing TAFE, because I had to catch up," she said.

"Then in my first exam I got 95 per cent. I felt a bit euphoric to be honest... to someone who had never studied in her life, didn't know how to study, didn't know anything or hadn't learned anything properly since I was in year seven, it was quite a big achievement."

Crucial to her success was her "excellent" teacher, Derek Bailey, who she said had been a "supportive driving force for the past four years." He helped her apply for and receive the Bert Evans Apprentice Scholarship, which was valued at $15,000.

Ms Shilcock joined GB Electrical in June after deciding to move to home automation and maintenance. She said her employers and colleagues had been supportive and she had formed friendships for life. She said she saw everyone as equal.

"Although I can understand and can respect the physical aspect of being different, I've never really seen myself as different to a man at all," she said.

"I've had to adopt a different way of working but I've never not been able to do anything and never not been able to be efficient in what I do. You've just got to think of different ways, there is always a way to get around a hurdle, you've just got to put your mind to it."