I love flying: the singular focus it demands, the way it forces you to be present in the moment. In the cockpit, the world below falls away, and I find a rare connection with myself.
"Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;"— John Gillespie Magee Jr.
The full poem hangs in my father's office, alongside an F-16 fighter jet photo from his military service days and models of the passenger jets he later flew for Delta. I grew up with symbols of aviation around me. I was blessed with circumstances that not only allowed me to travel but planted the seeds of what would become my own passion for flight.
I think I always knew I wanted to fly at some point. But this didn't turn into action until I came to a pivotal moment in my college years where I asked myself, "What do I want to do with my life? What career do I want to pursue?"
Instinctively, my response was flying.
Though ultimately flying as a career was not meant for me, in college I spent my first year in the Air Force ROTC program, and later planned on applying to Officer Training School to fly for the Air Force. I changed my major from Business Administration to Mechanical Engineering, immersing myself in courses like Aircraft Performance and Design and Dynamics of Spaceflight, and eventually leading to work on a NASA-sponsored glider project.
In the summer of 2020, amidst the global pandemic, I began the journey of getting my pilot's license. What I thought was mostly a decision for my career turned into what has become, without doubt or reservation, what I now know to be a lifelong passion.
