MARYSVILLE — A senior at Marysville Getchell High School, Kona Farry has dreams that are out of this world.
Literally.
He is intrigued by technology as well as space exploration and hopes to combine those interests into a career.
Question: You have a great first name. Tell me about it.
Answer: My given name is Donald Matthew Farry IV. That in itself is why I have a nickname. I was originally born in Virginia. I lived there until I was 6. All three other Donald Matthew Farrys lived within about 20 miles. My mom agreed that I could be the fourth if she could pick the nickname. She’s from Hawaii and the transliteration of Donald would be Kona.
Q: Have you met any other Konas?
A: I have met some animals named Kona, usually dogs.
Q: One of your teachers mentioned that you are the go-to-guy when someone doesn’t know how to use technology or something needs fixing. Is that the case?
A: My earliest memory of an interest in technology goes back to the fifth grade. My fifth-grade teacher gave me a computer, an old clunker, to work on. That’s my first real memory. To me, every piece of technology is something to try to figure out how it works.
Q: I understand you produced a documentary on the future of aerospace for your video production class. What is the future of aerospace?
A: It was 36 minutes. I partnered with (classmate) Ryan Krautkremer. We both have an interest in aerospace. We focused on the three major aspects of the industry: aviation, space flight and unmanned aircraft or drones. The title was “Grounded: The Future of Our Skies.”
Q: What’s your plan for next year?
A: I’m going to the University of Washington. My intent is to major in aeronautics and astronautics. It opens the door to a lot of different careers. I know I want to focus more on the space flight and the rocketry.
Q: Space has been a long-term interest?
A: I have been known to wake up at absurd hours to the catch a launch.
Q: I understand you’ve been a head of house for ISC (International School of Communication, a small school at Getchell). What was that about?
A: That is a lot of things. It’s the opportunity to really be involved at a level that has been great for me. You are in a unique position to develop relationships with adults and to get things accomplished. By focusing on relationships, more involvement naturally comes out of that.
Q: What’s your dream job?
A: I want to work for SpaceX. They are the most innovative company in the industry at this time. They could be putting people on Mars in eight years.
Q: What have been some of your favorite classes at ISC?
A: I really have liked video production, which I was able to take in my freshman and senior years. I’ve enjoyed working with this level of equipment. Here I’m working on 36-minute documentaries… With the teamwork opportunities, it’s the most real world class I’ve ever taken… I have taken a UW English class that was challenging where you turn in a portfolio of your work and a cover letter and you have to defend it… I took three hours of Latin and I wanted to take it again, but I couldn’t fit it into my schedule this year.
Q: What’s your favorite movie?
A: I suppose “The Martian” is a cop-out. I read the book first.
Q: Are you going to miss this (high school)?
A: It has been great. The experiences and relationships in a small school have absolutely been great for me…It is bittersweet graduating.”
Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: I have built my own drone. I taught myself about basic circuitry and I learned basic radio control.
Q: Do you have any siblings?
A: I have two brothers. Zach is a sophomore in BioMed (at Getchell) and Braeden is a fifth-grader at Pinewood Elementary School. I also have a dog (Malu) and a cat (Otis) and he lives almost exclusively in my room.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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