Minou’s sister Annika van Vliet was deputy head girl in 2014 and her youngest sister Kylie is currently in year 12. Minou was a prefect but also part of the wider school environment by being an active member of Studio Shows, Productions and the Womens XI Hockey team. Since her time at Rutherford she has studied towards her ambition to be an airline pilot. Minou went solo in a PA38 under the supervision of Peter Jefferies whilst completing her NCEA level 3. Since then she has gained her Private Pilot License (PPL) at the age of 19 and recently passed her Commercial Pilot License (CPL) at the age of 21. As of February 2016 she has commenced training to become a ‘C’ category instructor to help build her hours to meet the entry requirements at Air New Zealand. Minou is also the proud editor of a newsletter for New Zealand’s Association of Women in Aviation.

During her time studying, Minou has always worked part time to help keep the loan to a minimum. She currently works at Air New Zealand as Cabin Crew, and has done, since November 2014 and is now working towards gaining a managers position on board. In 2014 Minou was invited by her old intermediate, Marina View School, as a guest speaker as part of the school’s Leadership Programme. At Rutherford’s 2013 prizegiving Minou was the proud recipient of the Doug Tawhiti Award.