D (8)

DOLLY

LIFE

For more

information

about AIM,

check out their

website at

aim.edu.au.

It’s fair to say that I was totally

over the moon when I was first

accepted into AIM High School,

the program for Year 11 and 12

students. The principal offered me

a place then and there, and I got

the same result when I auditioned

for AIM’s tertiary program. I just

couldn’t believe that I was finally

going to be pursuing my dream!

A typical day at AIM is loud

• very loud! You walk into the cafe
  and then pretty much everyone is
  having a jam or practising or just
  laughing and having a great time.
  It’s so easy to make friends as we
  share the same passion, so we
  connect on a whole new level.
  We are all there to learn all
  the ins and outs of the art that we
  produce. Apart from the creative
  side, we are also taught the skills
  to give our careers some longevity


• think everything from creating
  a business proposal for funding
  to promoting yourself online.
  I’ve had so many amazing
  experiences already, like going
  to the World Championship of
  Performing Arts (WCOPA) in LA,
  which is basically the Olympics
  of performing arts. I competed
  against people from more than

50 countries in five categories:

rock, R&B/soul/jazz, pop,

contemporary and Broadway.

It was a tough week of competing,

but worth every single moment.

In total I won one gold medal,

three silver medals, an industry

award and the World Champion

title for Female Vocal Rock.

Another recent highlight was

performing with Guy Sebastian

at Carols In The City in Sydney.

Guy isn’t just a great singer, but

he’s an amazing artist and an

inspiration. He proves it really

comes down to hard work and

persistence to reach your goals

and achieve anything, and

everything you set your mind to.

I’m currently working on my

graduating recital for my last

trimester at AIM and I’m doing

really well in all my subjects.

I can’t believe I finally graduate

soon – it’s my fourth year at

AIM and I don’t want to leave

at all! I’m also working on a

blues EP, which will hopefully

be out by the end of this year.

I just want to be able to inspire

people through music the way

I’ve been inspired – that really

is my ultimate goal.b

I was only a few months old when

my parents were told that I had

life-threatening food allergies. And

the diagnosis was the answer to

a puzzle they had been struggling

to fi gure out. When I was growing

up, food allergies weren’t nearly

as common as they are now. School

was a challenge as another kid’s

lunch could have potentially put

me in hospital. Now I’m 19, and

I’ve never tasted a cheeseburger

or a rainbow Paddle Pop. And

I never will, because if I eat dairy,

egg, tree nuts, peanuts or sesame,

I could go into anaphylactic shock

and, in the worst case scenario,

stop breathing. My friends always

go out for lunch or dinner at places

I simply can’t go to and this is often

really hard to deal with, for them

and for me. Unless you’ve lived this

way it’s hard to know what it’s like.

It would be untrue to say that

having allergies hasn’t helped to

defi ne who I am. Not everyone

wakes up in the morning knowing

someone else’s brekkie of bacon

and eggs could turn catastrophic.

I guess the thing that has made this

situation easier is to realise that

yes, I’m different, but is that such

a bad thing? Everyone is different

in their own way. With caution

and vigilance, I can lead a happy,

normal life, just like everyone else.

‘‘MY FOOD ALLERGIES ARE SO

BAD THEY COULD KILL ME’’

MIKAYLA, 19, IS A NORMAL TEENAGER – EXCEPT SHE HAS

TO CONSTANTLY KEEP WATCH OF EVERYTHING SHE EATS.

‘‘MY LIFE IS A HIGH-SCHOOL MUSICAL’’

ALEXANDRA, 19, IS LIVING HER DREAM OF BECOMING A SINGER AND LEARNING THE SECRETS OF THE

MUSIC BIZ AT THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MUSIC (AIM) – AKA THE COOLEST SCHOOL ON THE PLANET.

AS TOLD TO

MATTHEW GALEA.