Towamba’s Jesse Hadley is off living the dream.
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The 17-year-old, who recently graduated from Eden Marine High School, moved to the Mornington Peninsula this week, after enlisting in the Royal Australian Navy on Monday.
Jesse will spend the next three months at recruit school at the RAN’s premier training establishment, HMAS Cerberus, as he looks to fulfil his goal and become a chef.
“I’m just so proud of him, and so are all the teachers and the principal at the school,” his mother Danna said on Friday.
“My dad started off as a fisherman and later became a marine engineer, but Jesse’s always loved food and cooking.
“He’s been on a few cruises, and growing up around here, he developed an interest in boats.
“It was my idea actually; I suggested to him that joining the Navy and becoming a chef might be a good idea.
“In a small town like Eden, it’s hard to get a job, so this is a great opportunity for him.”
The 17-year-old, who will turn 18 in March, was champing at the bit to get the chance.
It has been his dream ever since the early part of high school.
“When Jesse was in about Year 7 or 8, he went to one of those information stands at the whale festival and brought home some pamphlets about the Navy,” Danna said.
“Ever since then, that’s been his dream.
“Now here he is, he’s enlisted and he’s in the Navy.
“He’d had enough of school; he was a good student, but he couldn’t wait to get out into the workforce.
“He and his twin sister Miranda miss each other, but we all went to his enlistment at HMAS Harman in Canberra on Monday to say goodbye.”