Ben Suttling

My name is Ben Suttling and I live with my legal guardians (Nan & Grandad). I am a 16 (Turning 17 on the 12th of June) year old boy who is due to finish college in the month of May 2027. I enjoy meeting new people, talking, playing video games and photography!

In the early years of my life, I lived with my Mum, Nan, Grandad and Auntie. As time progressed my mother was unable to care for me as much as a mother should be able to so therefore I was passed into my Nan & Grandads care and have lived with them ever since. During this time, I have been in full - time education and did not complete SATs due to COVID - 19. I always enjoy helping people and I also always have adored luxury branding and fashion design. I am an avid watch enthusiast however have not been able to see many luxury watches in person due to most store needing appointments to purchase or browse.

Throughout my life at secondary school, I enjoyed the overall experience however experienced a major setback in Year 7 & Year 8 due to COVID - 19 forcing the school to close and switch to online learning. I am a eager learner so online learning did not stop me trying my hardest. In Year 9, Lockdown ended allowing for me to finally get the education everyone had missed, I always enjoyed school and loved to learn new things as well as meeting new people and making new friends. I participated in many different student leadership positions such as a member of the PALS team (a team of students who looked out for students who were upset or lonely and gave them the comfort and support needed), Mental Health Ambassador (a team of students who were always the upstanders instead of being bystanders to active bullying in the school environment), and a member of the Student Council (a team of students who were allowed to assist with debating about the schools future, helping with designing parts of the new school building, being a role model to younger year groups, helping students feel welcome in the school environment and also helping with school functions such as open evenings in the music department and giving public speeches about school life). Overall, I enjoyed my school experience and have always wanted to push for the best.

I have just passed my GCSEs with only 3 fails. To me, this is a great achievement as I always struggles with the subjects I passed and it gave me that confidence boost to apply for a job to do alongside college to save up for driving lessons and to help pay back my Nan and Grandad for all the money they have spent on me to look after me during these years. I am a eager learner and can learn quickly on the spot on what to do, I enjoy learning new things and enjoy seeing the way people enjoy being informed about great products not only in the watch range however, also in the jewellery range. I enjoy learning a lot of information about new things as this allows me to retain as much as possible in order to relay the information about products to customers to give them the best experience possible. I feel as if I am a very presentable person and can be seen as an approachable person and also a reliable person to help out when needed.

I personally fell in love with luxury fashion brands due to the welcoming sense it gave me when I walked into the store at lakeside today, the staff were very encouraging in telling me to apply for the role and that I am always welcome to pop in and say hello! To me this is what great customer service is as it gives your clientele a great first impression leading them to maintain their services with sales associates to become a regular and profound customer of the luxury brands in store!

I love spending time with family so I have a lot of experience in stressful situations and I can remain calm under pressure allowing me to continue to push the brand to the best of my ability to be able to maintain monthly and weekly targets!

As I have just left secondary school in the past year I am going into the wider adult world, I am very much always finding new things to do to keep my mind occupied.

Over the last few years, I have grown a large interest into Photography and 3D Design and also Lighting Design and much more! My interest in Photography has always been strong as I have always loved taking photos to capture the moment.

Alongside my photography hobby, I tend to travel quite often with my two legal guardians (Nan & Grandad) who always take me to different places with stunning views and brilliant natural surroundings. Recently, I have been on holiday on multiple cruise ships to Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar allowing me to capture the different cultures "through the lense". Nature and the outside is almost like my second home, I love taking walks through parks and country roads and paths to explore and see what life brings to me.

On the other hand, when I am at home and on my computer, I tend to watch a lot of true crime documentaries, comedy films, informative programmes and play video games. My interest in video games has always been strong and recently this has allowed me to develop skills of creating 3D designs and Lighting designs to popular music and theatrical performances. I tend to do these projects by myself as an escape from the loud bustle of everyday life. I play video games with a lot of passion and get very interested into the story lines and attention to detail. My parents have always supported me with everything I do and I always aim to please them and everyone who I meet.

Another interest of mine is collecting items that are limited or are in sets! The typical stereotype in modern day society for teenage boys is that we should be interested in sports, outdoor activities and being the strongest person in a friend group. However, I am not like other boys, I tend to keep to myself and get deeply invested into collections of model cars, boats and even lego! Right now, I am currently interested in collecting music items such as; Vinyl's from my favourite artists (Alex Warren, James Marriott, Lady Gaga, Tyler The Creator, Frank Ocean and Much more!), CDs, Vintage Record Players or Musical Instruments.

Quite recently, I have begun to learn the electric guitar which gives me a great break from the busy day to day life style and I also enjoy playing the piano. All through my last years in primary school (Years 4 - 6) I started my musical journey playing the cornet (A smaller version of the trumpet) which made me fall in love with live music, this pushed me to start my GCSE Music course which I passed with a strong pass (A 5).

Overall, I love my interests and hobbies and I always love talking about them to others! I am always open to talking more about my hobbies during any further application stages if needed!

Personal referees:

• Mrs Emma Stannard: Aunt (Not blood related)
  Personal Phone Number: +44 7557 790237
  Personal Email Address: info@doveaccounting.co.uk
• Mr Christopher Cozier: Uncle (Not blood related)
  Personal Phone Number: +44 7786 560939
  Personal Email Address: byfleetrector@gmail.com

Professional referees:

• Mrs Sian Rawson: Headteacher at Orsett Heath Academy
  School Office Number: +44 1375 802800
  School Email Address: RawsonS@oha.swecet.org