High school student off to the army

There will be no sleep-ins for Jacob van Leeuwen in the first week of the school holidays.

Quite the contrary, it’ll be early starts for the Gore High School student, who is spending five days at the Burnham Military Camp from October 1 to 5.

‘‘It’s 5.30 [am] wake ups and lights out at 10 [pm],’’ Jacob said.

His interest in the NZ Defence Force was sparked by air force programmes on television.

Jacob, 16, applied for a defense career experience after attending an army and air force information night in Invercargill in August.

‘‘That was pretty cool ... it sold it for me,’’ said Jacob, who has thoughts of being an engineer in the army.

Jacob admires the work done by defence personnel, an example being when they worked alongside emergency services in Christchurch after the earthquake in 2011. The earthquake killed 185 people. ‘‘They help people.’’ ‘‘I’m wanting to get a sense of what it’s like in the army and what its requirements are.’’

Jacob’s parents, Kane van Leeuwen and Cherrie Kennedy, dairy farmers at Waikana, support his decision to try out the army. Kennedy realises the trip could be the first step in Jacob having a career in the army after he finishes school next year.

‘‘As a mum, and the way the world’s going, it’s a worry [for any parent with children in the defence forces],’’ Kennedy said.