We are thrilled to announce Graham Bergey as one of our four distinguished 2025 Dakota Prep Fellows! Currently a 4th-year electrical apprentice at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Graham exemplifies the leadership, mentorship, and community-building spirit that the Dakota Prep Fellowship celebrates.
Graham's journey to becoming an electrician began in high school, where his passion first sparked in electronics classes and the school's robotics club. As he describes it, "My interest in the electrical field started with high school Electronics courses, initially building small circuits such as memory games, clapper-controllers, small DC power supplies, and other related circuits." This early exposure led him to competitions with Skills Canada, where he represented his school in both Electronics and Robotics categories.
After high school, Graham initially pursued electrical engineering, believing it was the natural progression for his interests. However, the academic experience presented unexpected challenges, particularly with advanced mathematics. "Third year calculus," Graham recalls, "to be very specific," was the turning point that led him to reconsider his path."It was a prerequisite for all the other third-year courses, the physics, the circuit analysis, and without that, I couldn't keep taking the rest of the courses I needed to take," Graham explains.
This academic challenge became a pivotal moment in Graham's journey—a time to reassess his career direction. After making the difficult decision to step away from engineering, Graham spent several years working as an equipment operator, taking time to reflect on his professional path. "After seven or eight years of that," he shares, "I decided, you know, I want to do something more fulfilling with my life."
This period of career uncertainty ultimately became the catalyst for discovering his true path. Graham returned to education—this time in Thompson Rivers University's Construction Electrician Foundation course. There, he experienced an immediate and affirming revelation: he had finally found the perfect blend of theory, code knowledge, and hands-on learning that aligned with his strengths and interests.
"When I took the Foundations program for the electrician program, it made me realize that I didn't want to be doing electrical with a computer, analyzing circuits, designing circuits, having someone else build them," Graham explains. "I wanted to be the guy hands-on, building things, troubleshooting things, testing things. I like working with my hands. I do like math, but I like working with my hands too."
The contrast was immediate and profound. While engineering had left him feeling defeated and disconnected from his passion, the Electrical Foundations program ignited an instant sense of belonging. "Right from the first week of the foundation program I knew it was the right thing to do," Graham recalls. That moment of clarity—going from the classroom to the lab where he began wiring up lights, switches, and electrical panels—confirmed he had finally found his true calling.
Graham's apprenticeship has taken him from construction at a major hydro-electric generating facility to working in the oil and gas industry, where he's developed specialized expertise in hazardous locations, PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), and industrial control systems.
What truly sets Graham apart is his dedication to sharing this knowledge with fellow apprentices. As his instructor Ben Lovely attests: "Graham is a gifted student and could have easily disengaged from the class and still passed his IP exam. He did the opposite, however. Graham never missed a day in class, actively participated in all class discussions, and I witnessed him mentoring those around him to ensure his classmates were also understanding the 4th year material."
During his fourth year at Thompson Rivers University, Graham recognized that his classmates came from diverse electrical backgrounds—from heavy industrial construction to utility distribution, stage wiring, greenhouse operations, and residential service. Drawing on his unique industrial experience, Graham regularly held after-class review sessions, going over challenging material and helping students understand complex concepts.
His commitment to helping his classmates became evident during final exam preparation, where his instructor observed him "lead the class in multiple IP review study sessions, complete with providing detailed lessons and explanations to problems encountered on the Dakota Prep app and in other study material."
This dedication to peer support paid off—Graham achieved an impressive 98% in his 4th-year exams and 92% on his Red Seal certification, while helping ensure most of his classmates passed their exams as well.
For Graham, mentoring isn't just about helping others succeed academically—it's fundamentally about safety. Having witnessed serious workplace incidents in industrial settings, he's passionate about ensuring future electricians have the knowledge they need to work safely.
"Electrical is all about making sure your fellow electricians are safe and successful," Graham emphasizes. "You always want everyone to go home from the job in one piece and be proud of the work they’ve done."
This commitment to safety drives his approach to helping others master complex subjects like hazardous locations, PLCs, and industrial systems—areas where mistakes can have serious consequences.
One of Graham's missions is to expand awareness of the diverse opportunities in the electrical trade beyond residential and commercial construction. "The perception is that all electricians pull Romex in houses," he notes. "But there's so much more to electrical work."
His industrial experience has given him the opportunity to work on fascinating projects few people ever see—from massive hydroelectric generating stations with turbines producing 8,000 amps at 13,000 volts to 7,000-horsepower motors the size of a car. In his current role, Graham describes himself as "the last line of defense for successful system turnover," handling final testing, troubleshooting complex issues, and being "the guy that terminates and energizes" systems before handover to clients.
This industrial work not only offers fascinating technical challenges but also financial rewards—Graham notes industrial electricians can earn double what residential electricians make—and attractive work schedules, with many positions offering week-long breaks after 14-day work periods.
As Graham reflects on what he would tell his high school self: "Going into engineering, you'll never get to do any of the interesting things. You're only going to be designing them... You'll never touch the wires. You'll never solder anything... you'll never be testing the SCR, you'll never be troubleshooting the relays."
Now, having found his path and achieved excellence in it—scoring 92% on his Red Seal exam—Graham is looking forward to continuing his journey as a journeyman electrician, with plans to further specialize in PLCs and Human-Machine Interfaces.
The Dakota Prep Fellowship will help support Graham as he continues mentoring the next generation of electricians, sharing his specialized knowledge, and ensuring they have the skills to work safely and effectively in this essential trade.
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The Dakota Prep Fellowship recognizes and supports exceptional electrical apprentices across Canada who have demonstrated a deep commitment to mentoring and assisting their peers. Each Fellow receives a $1,000 award and national recognition for their contributions to building a stronger, more connected trades community.
Dakota Prep's mission is to empower individuals to build successful careers in the trades. Through intuitive and impactful digital products, we help students prepare for and pass their trade exams, advancing to journeyman status. To date, we've supported over 10,000 students from over 30+ schools and unions in Canada, making their dreams of a successful trades career a reality.