Dear Ms Bagley,

            Family

My name is Alex and I was born in England on 4 August 2002 in the coastal town of Poole, located in Dorset. I was born 7 weeks premature and was blessed to be alive and healthy at birth. In the UK, my father served in the Royal Marines, fighting in the 2003 Iraq War towards the end of his 8-year commission.  I had been living in England up until the age of 13 months when my parents made the decision to move to New Zealand – soon after my father finished his service.

We initially visited family in the North Island, before travelling to the South Island. When we came through Wanaka, my parents fell in love with the place and I have been living here ever since. My mother set up a Pilates studio in town whilst my dad flew in Queenstown as a helicopter pilot. Sharing my father’s passion for aviation I soon developed a love for flying and anything aircraft related. I attended Montessori in town for my preschool years and later moved to Holy Family for primary school in 2007 – the same year in which my brother Joseph was born. I started MAC in 2015 and was settling in nicely until my world was turned completely upside down… my father was killed in a helicopter crash. Despite going through the hardest time of my life experienced so far, I felt I grew stronger as a person and matured a great deal as a result. I learnt to appreciate the life that I have been given as I found out the hard way that it can come to an end any moment. Because of this, I developed a stronger relationship with my mother and brother.

            Interests

I enjoy being able to get outdoors in general and love making the most of this living in Wanaka. Some of my main outdoor interests include tramping, skiing, and surfing. All of which provide a great chance to be in nature and get away from the distractions and stresses of day-to-day life. The freedom that comes with each activity is also another great reason as to why I am interested in each one. Whilst I have been doing skiing and tramping from a young age, surfing is a relatively new skill for me. Although learning can be somewhat frustrating, it is highly rewarding at the same time.  We have a caravan on the South Coast near Riverton-Invercargill area so I usually surf at spots in that area e.g. at Colac Bay. In winter, I ski at Treble Cone and like the excuse of getting to catch up with friends while skiing–most of us are now at the ability where we can ski anywhere on the mountain so we always have a lot fun because of this. For me, tramping is a nice chance to explore more of the country we live in, an activity that I do with both friends and family. My favorite place to walk would have to be in the Fiordland area, which is in my opinion, the most beautiful part of the country. Some of the walks I have done in this are include the Kepler, Milford and Routeburn Tracks.

As mentioned earlier, I have developed a passion for aviation from a young age. I have had a lifelong dream to one-day become a pilot. I have currently started my flight training for my Private Pilots License (PPL) for fixed-wing and aim to get it by the time I finish Year 13 at MAC. This, along with my school grades will provide an amazing stepping-stone when I go to apply to a flight school to further my training. The feeling I get from flying is like no other and when I stepped out of the plane after my first, I knew aviation was the career for me.

I work part-time at Mitre 10 and have been working there for nearly 3 years now. I have learnt first-hand a lot of important skills for the ‘real world’ from working there e.g. becoming more practical in general, working with customers and learning the value of money – one can spend it a lot faster than earning it! Being able to work at Mitre 10 also helps pay for a great deal of my flying so I am highly grateful for the opportunity to work there.

Academic Focus for this Year and Beyond

This year, I aim to finish NCEA Level 2 with an Excellence Endorsement overall and in my individual subjects. Looking beyond this year, I aim for the same results in Level 3 and hope to complete my PPL, as stated earlier. To get my PPL I need a total of 50 flying hours and need to pass the six required flying exams; I have done one of which already. English, physics and math’s are my main focuses in school. Physics helps to further my understanding of the principles of flight and Level 3 math’s and English are needed by requirement for when I apply to a flight school. I have been in touch with numerous flight schools across the country in Nelson, Christchurch and Invercargill, and all have given me helpful advice around school course selection and what I can do now to prepare career-wise. I hope that I can one day fly commercially and get paid to do something I am passionate about and have always wanted to do.

            Favorite Foods

I like many different foods and there wouldn’t be many that I don’t like. Some of my favorite foods include pizza and sushi, as I love the many different flavours that each food has. I also like to try food from other countries and explore the many different cultures in the world.

            Nicknames, Skills etc.

My name at birth is Alexander, although many friends prefer to call me Alex, as it is less of a mouthful! An interesting skill I could do would be knowing how to ride a unicycle. I learnt at primary school when someone came to teach us.

What do I hope from Ms Bagley this Year?

How can you support my perceived areas of weakness?

My main perceived area of weakness would be that I take longer than normal when it comes to processing things. I also need tasks to be explained clearly otherwise I can often get confused. You being aware of this can help both of these perceived weaknesses.

What do I see as my areas of strength?

            I also see taking longer when processing things as a strength as it means that I think longer and can present better work/ arguments as a result. I have also developed a strong work ethic throughout my years at school, which is another strength. In addition, I am motivated in my work as I have the goal of becoming a pilot. I feel this motivation has strengthened my overall work ethic as a result.

I look forward to being in your class this year.

Kind Regards

Alex