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John Russel Cabatu

1,175

Bold Points

1x

Finalist

Bio

My life goal is to be an aerospace engineer who's making 6 figures a year and supporting my parents at the same time. The dream of myself flying a plane has been one of my biggest manifestations since I was a child. Imaging the thought of ascending through the endless height of the sky, and how two or four engines can bring hundreds of people thousands of feet up makes me daydream about planes all day. However, all of these can’t be possible without aviation. Working on an everyday vehicle that can help people go to places that they want has been my passion since I was a kid. I'm a great candidate because I want to go to college with the thought of giving back to my parents

Education

Piper High School

High School
2023 - 2024
  • GPA:
    4

Miscellaneous

  • Desired degree level:

    Master's degree program

  • Majors of interest:

    • Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering
  • Not planning to go to medical school
  • Career

    • Dream career field:

      Aviation & Aerospace

    • Dream career goals:

      Achieve my dreams and give back what my family worked hard for

      Sports

      Basketball

      Intramural
      2014 – Present11 years

      Public services

      • Volunteering

        All Saints Catholic School — Student Worker
        2023 – Present
      David Foster Memorial Scholarship
      Everybody in my class hated my U.S. history teacher the first few weeks of school, but I didn't hate her that much like the others. As much as others disliked her during the first quarter, my history teacher is the one who greatly impacted my life in many ways. Her name is Ms. Isaac and she's a teacher who always has a lot of wisdom to bring out to her students. "Let's cross the finish line together", a message that Ms. Isaac often tells us before starting a discussion. She shows dedication to her teachings, so we can all pass her subject. Ms. Isaac is very diverse in her class, even though students were failing her class and their other classes, she still tried and picked them back up so they could stand on their own again. Those people who failed classes after classes changed because of Ms. Isaac's help, they started getting good grades and they lent an ear to Ms. Isaac more than ever. The way Ms. Isaac approaches her students reveals more values that we can learn from her. Ms. Isaac is full of hope for her students, it made me realize that all people are capable of obtaining success in education or their future. Some are just unfortunate, and they just need a spark of help so they can be on the right track again. I learned a lot of values from Ms. Isaac, it all started with attitude, mentality, and how to help ourselves each time we need to jump over hurdles of tough challenges. The way she teaches us, students while trying to connect the topic of her class to her philosophy is what makes her unique. She's unlike every other teacher who just shows up to a classroom for a paycheck and gives students a cluster of assignments without them learning a single topic. Ms. Isaac shows who she is when she teaches, she shows the best version of herself and that's why we students are always connected with her during class discussions. Moreover, she brings out the best in us students, and this aspect itself shows how Ms. Isaac is a leader and a teacher at the same time. It inspires me to replicate the same actions that she shows to us students. She motivated me to take on more leadership roles and consistently show my best version of myself to people. For instance, I recently got accepted to an internship for my upcoming senior year and by the use of what I learned from Ms. Isaac, I know now what I will do to excel myself to be the best version of who I am. As the school year ended last June 2024, all of us students passed the state exam for U.S History. She was glad that we all passed that she hosted a food party in her room. Nevertheless, I'm more thankful for the principles that she showed as a teacher and a mentor at the same time. The fact that I can take advantage of the values that I learned from her shows how much she influenced me in my approach to my life, and I hope that she keeps on teaching for a long time, so students can learn much from her. Thank You, Ms. Isaac, we truly did cross the finish line together.
      James Diorato Memorial Scholarship
      I was like every normal kid back then, I didn't care about things around me apart from playing outside with my friends and doing whatever I could imagine with my mind. Until one day, I heard a "whoosh" of an engine. I thought it was one of the sports cars Dad watched a million times on the TV, but thank the stars it wasn't because that was when I fell in love with aviation. The time when I looked up with my curious innovative mind and was astonished at how two engines with a pair of wings could transport hundreds of people around the world. There were moments when I passed by my nearby airport with my family and couldn't take my eyes off the planes arriving and departing. What I did was search for planes that I liked and see at my local airport. I wrote it all down in my notebook and made a checklist beside it so that I could look out for planes that I hadn't seen yet. It was a fun little activity that I made as a kid, and it made me learn about various concepts about planes, especially because it kept me entertained during family trips. As years went by, my interest and passion grew for a career in the aviation industry. All I did was watch videos and documentaries about planes during middle school. Whenever my family and I went out for a vacation outside the country, I always asked the cabin crew if they could let me inside the cockpit and meet the pilots before they flew the plane. I always asked the pilots how to fly a plane and be like them one day, their reply was always "hard work and dedication". I learned a lot from them, especially when they taught me about the indicators and other parts of the plane. They were a big part of why I always worked hard on my education and having a passion for flying airplanes. My parents are the main reason why I'm still passionate about aviation. Considering that they always supported my decisions even if some of them were mistakes. Most of all, they were the ones who taught me how to be patient, consistent, and dedicated to the things I liked, that's why I repeatedly do my best every time a challenge is in front of me and find solutions for it at the same time. Furthermore, it proves that aviation was my profound destiny. I can envision myself flying a Boeing 787 or an Airbus A320 in the future, I can see myself working in aviation every day as a source of helping me and my family. However, the only aspect that can tug my hopes and dreams down is the financial struggle of my aviation career, especially since we recently moved here to Florida last year and my mom is having surgery on her ovary in the next couple of months. Nevertheless, those reasons will not stop me from pursuing my career dreams. They will only make my fuel for hard work more dynamic. As my parents always say "Hard work is an investment and will pay off eventually". I'm an upcoming high school senior, and I witnessed a few curveballs in the past. However, I still went on and kept my head high to pursue my dreams. Giving back to my parents is my primary goal after getting a career in aviation, I know that my commitment to my dreams will eventually pay off. Thank you for reading my application!
      Alexander de Guia Memorial Scholarship
      My family taught me numerous values when I was still in the Philippines, especially my parents. But, the only values that stuck out were patience, consistency, hard work, and tenaciousness. These values revolve around my world every day and make me achieve the goals that I want. I excelled in my studies using the values that I learned from my family, it's the reason why I got tons of certifications at my schools. I have done it consistently since I was in 3rd grade until today, I'm still looking forward to excelling in my studies until I graduate college. My family is my main motivation for being the best for them when it comes to education because I want them to know that every blood and sweat that they sacrifice for me is not going to be wasted. There were struggles that my parents had before I was born; especially when it came to their educational needs. My mom and I always talked about how she struggled with her transportation to school when she was in elementary until high school. She always tells me, "When I was a kid I used to be awake at 5 AM, go walk for 30 minutes, and climb up the mountain just to learn elementary topics" whenever I didn't want to go to school. She always says I'm lucky because at my age today she always hops on jeepneys or LRTs that are always full of people so she can go back home. My mom had many stories about her struggles relating to education. Still, the most important message that she always said to me was "Always aim for the highest no matter what", it inspired me to study even harder when I hear it from her. Even though she went through struggles as a student, she still decided to help her parents by graduating from Mapua College and working as a part-time student in Jollibee, despite that she wasn't able to pay her tuition fee on time. My mom always motivates me in terms of education and myself, she's why I'm grateful for the small things she sacrificed for me, and for giving me the "never give up mentality". My dad has a business, he structured his business before I was born and met Mom. He went through a lot to keep his business relevant to clients, there were times my dad wanted to let go of it because it almost went bankrupt and no one trusted it would go well in the future. However, my dad still had faith in his work ethic, and shortly he got more clients than ever. My dad is my long-time mentor, he teaches me everything that would benefit me. As a mentor he is to me, he always says "Take every opportunity until you regret it". My dad wants me to be a better man than him, he doesn't want me to repeat the regretful decisions that he made in the past. Moreover, we just moved to the United States a year ago, it's been a rough start. But with the help of my parents, together we made our year easier for all of us. Especially since I excelled in my studies in a new environment and school, having an "All A's" semester and meeting new people in the process. Winning this scholarship will help me and my family overcome our financial needs for my dream college, and it would be a big help towards my goal. After reading my application, I couldn't be prouder to have my parents in my life.
      John Russel Cabatu Student Profile | Bold.org