I usually subconsciously make the mistake of introducing myself as Matthew, yet I prefer if people called me Matt:). I am currently 17 years old and a new student attending Brookes Westshore for my last year of high school. I am originally from Comox but am now situated in Victoria to pursue my goal of becoming a well-rounded student-athlete. One thing about me is that I play one of the most time-consuming sports, hockey, at a competitive junior level. Matching this with the demanding IB program will undoubtedly be extremely intense, but I am always up for the challenge. As I am always looking for ways to benefit my lifestyle, most of my free time is spent either with friends or in the gym. One of my biggest interests is hiking and not your typical day hike because I love the hard and challenging hikes that make me seek that feeling of gratitude when bagging a peak and taking in the astonishing view. This summer I went on a hike, where me and a few friends woke up at 3 a.m. to cross off a sunrise hike from our bucket list. We saw the sun rise over the horizon of the mountains mixed with the smoke from the wildfires, creating a silver lining that was absolutely breathtaking. So if you are ever up for the challenge, I one hundred percent recommend doing a sunrise hike.
Although my schedule keeps me quite busy, I love reading whenever I have spare time or even when assigned new books in English class. Breaking open the pages of an unfamiliar book feels like a fresh start to a new adventure. As I progress into novels and become one with the character, I read endlessly, always wanting to turn the next page. It seems as if reading books has always created an immersive experience for me and getting to know the protagonist and watching the character develop always seems to amaze me. Additionally, Reading articles is also intriguing to me as I can read about my interests like sports or exciting world news. What I love the most about reading articles is that it benefits me in many ways as there is lots of good insight and knowledge to gain from, on top of that, it helps me become a better writer.
Writing is a very important skill and tool that will carry out throughout my life, and because of this I always look for ways to improve my writing. One thing about me, and I know most people aren’t, but I prefer to type instead of writing things down with a pencil and paper. I mostly enjoy writing because whenever I write and get into the flow of it, it feels like everything just pieces together and nothing beats that flow when all of your ideas just click and come together. However, Sometimes my mind will go blank and I will take a break to recuperate my thoughts. I don’t typically have a favorite writing style, but I am really fond of the narrative style of writing, as I am able to write in profound detail through the lens of a main character when telling a story, which I love to do.