WILLITON woman Sophie Knapp “came from nothing” but was in the top three in this year’s Lifetime Learner Achievement Awards on Thursday (October 13).

There were five categories, open to 20,000 apprentices, and Sophie rose through the ranks in the running to be crowned the Active Leisure Apprentice of the Year.

Sophie, 43, was a single parent as a teenager and battled through a fear of learning before she achieved her dream ambition of becoming a personal trainer in the gym she once volunteered in.

“I love the fact I came from nothing and am now slowly climbing the career ladder I should have done years ago. I plan to carry on learning now knowing I can do it,” she said.

Sophie’s full story is in the Free Press