Introducing Our Third Winner for 2023 - Matthew Youssef
We’re not gambling people but by golly! To get three winners from three shortlisted candidates - it’s a pretty cool feeling really. A trifecta, if you will.
Matthew is a lovely guy. We were quite taken with him. So here he is. Matthew Youssef.
In his own words, Matthew Youssef strives to be ‘noble, honest and disciplined’.
With a profound sense of community service, he has a mature sense of his place in the community and acts accordingly.
He also yearns to be an airline pilot – a career that would change his life. But like so many young people in our country, his dream is hindered by not coming from a financially secure family. Additionally, coming from an ethnic minority, his opportunities are often slim.
For a young man who happily gives so much back to his communities, it seemed unreasonable that he wouldn’t get a chance to reach his childhood dream. However, an application to the Pauwels Flying Scholarship, in the first year it became available nationwide, has changed Matthew’s outlook and future path. With the support of the Hugo Charitable Trust, he can now look seriously at training to become an airline pilot.
Matthew has had an interesting start to his life. He was born in Muscat, Oman to Egyptian parents who are active in the Coptic Christian Church. Like many other Copts, Matthew’s parents left Egypt due to religious persecution. They made their way to Canada before arriving in New Zealand in 2010.
Matthew is a standout performer at his studies, no matter what they are. He is currently working towards his International Baccalaureate Diploma and has also completed several Level 2 mathematics standards, achieving Excellence and Merit grades. He constantly does extra self-directed studies in his school subjects and can relate those subjects back to the inequalities and troubles of the wider world. Furthermore, Matthew is a keen football player and is part of the school’s first XI. He also participates in the following community commitments: - Amnesty International Youth Group, Red Cross, SADD, UNESCO, UNICEF and leads the Physics Pathfinders initiative. He has recently been selected to become a school Prefect.
Matthew has lived and breathed aviation since he was a 3-year-old child. He has been accepted into the North Shore Young Eagles programme and has since won the “Top Gun” award. He enjoys writing aviation articles for the North Shore Aero Club’s magazine and also for the nationwide publication – KiwiFlyer. He is a member of 5 Squadron Air Training Corps, which affords him the opportunity to participate in ANZAC services, complete community service, and study aviation theory. He also enjoys meet ups with plane spotters to socialize and converse over their common passion.
With the wonderful $10,000 donation from Hugo Charitable Trust and the long-term mentoring provided by John Pauwels of the Pauwels Flying Scholarship, Matthew looks set to fly into a very promising and life changing career.
