The first time I flew a single-engine plane, my instructor handed me a pen and told me to let it sit flat on my hand. He reduced power and pitched down as I watched, mesmerized, the pen floating out of my hand and toward the back of the plane. The sensation of a zero-G maneuver plays out as if it's still happening each time I remember this moment. After that, I could never turn back from the world of aviation. My Discovery Flight was the result of a year-long effort to make a post-high school plan. My lifelong love of aviation led me to intensely research routes to become a pilot. Before I ever flew that plane, I had a near-complete understanding of every option a student pilot had, and I began forming the process I’d take to reach the airlines. I only needed a flight to confirm my ambitions were pursuable, and my discovery experience showed me I was making the right choice. Since then, I’ve completed ten flight hours and intend to fly solo before starting college. Through flying, I’ve realized a career is not an end to the means, it must give me a sense of purpose and authentic love for what I do. Aviation brings me this in the thrill of manipulating a plane, the character of its people, and my personal interests in aeronautical machinery. The control my instructor gives me over our aircraft exhilarates me as I take off, perform maneuvers, and land on my own. The community within aviation is one of camaraderie and liveliness, and in my opinion people only pursue flight when they have an intense passion for it, which makes them all the more genuine. The technology I get to work with is intricate and immersive- I'm constantly fascinated by what humans have managed to engineer in aviation and I desire to learn as much as possible. All these aspects ignite passion in me, and it's a feeling I can carry with me for the rest of my life by carving a path in this field. This fall, I’m attending Central Washington University for a Bachelor’s degree in professional flight, earning certificates necessary for an airline career. Once I’ve earned my PPL, I’ll apply to regional airline programs, aiming for the Horizon Airlines Pilot Development Program. After graduating, I’ll use my CFI rating to build hours before advancing to the regionals. My goals in college are to immerse myself in this field with every resource possible and emerge a well-rounded pilot with industry-wide skills. To do this, I’m also double-majoring in Aviation Management, joining CWU’s Women in Aviation and ALPA Ace Clubs, and residing in the aviation community dorm. I’m eager to start this next chapter of my life and build a fulfilling career for myself.

The first time I flew a single-engine plane, my instructor handed me a pen and told me to let it sit flat on my hand. He reduced power and pitched down as I watched, mesmerized, the pen floating out of my hand and toward the back of the plane. The sensation of a zero-G maneuver plays out as if it's still happening each time I remember this moment. After that, I could never turn back from the world of aviation. A passion for flying was developed early in my life, influenced by two family members who have held distinguished careers as pilots. My cousin flew Marine helicopters and earned the privilege of flying Marine One for a President. My great-uncle flew B-24s for covert OSS missions during World War II, continued his love for flying with Eastern Airlines for three decades, and volunteered himself for Mercy Medical Angels. He flew until his passing at age 98. Their impressive stories sparked motivation to create my own aviation path. My Discovery Flight was the result of a year-long effort to make a post-high school plan. My lifelong love of aviation led me to intensely research routes to become a pilot. Before I ever flew that plane, I had a near-complete understanding of every option a student pilot had, and I began forming the process I’d take to reach the airlines. I only needed a flight to confirm my ambitions were pursuable, and my discovery experience showed me I was making the right choice. Since then, I’ve completed ten flight hours and intend to fly solo before starting college. Through flying, I’ve realized a career is not an end to the means, it must give me a sense of purpose and authentic love for what I do. I find exhilaration in performing maneuvers on my own, community in the lively camaraderie of aviators, and fascination for aviation’s intricate engineering. All these aspects ignite passion in me, and it's a feeling I can carry with me for the rest of my life by carving a path in this field. This fall, I’m attending Central Washington University for a Bachelor’s degree in professional flight, earning certificates necessary for an airline career. Once I’ve earned my PPL, I’ll apply to regional airline programs, aiming for the Horizon Airlines Pilot Development Program. After graduating, I’ll use my CFI rating to build hours before advancing to the regionals. My goals in college are to immerse myself in this field with every resource possible and emerge a well-rounded pilot with industry-wide skills. To do this, I’m also double-majoring in Aviation Management, joining CWU’s Women in Aviation and ALPA Ace Clubs, and residing in the aviation community dorm. I’m eager to start this next chapter of my life and build a fulfilling career for myself. Community involvement has been embedded in me since middle school. I’ve been a Girl Scout, a school club Vice President, and a volunteer for several organizations. Volunteering for my local food bank has allowed me to generate the most impact on my community compared with my other activities, making it my favorite. Each week, I work with a team to organize the bank and assist clients in getting essential supplies. My work has captured the attention of those in charge, who invited me to speak on behalf of youth volunteers in a video interview. Having a role there gives me the invaluable opportunity of uplifting my community members, something I’d love to continue at my college’s food bank.

The first time I flew a single-engine plane, my instructor handed me a pen and told me to let it sit flat on my hand. He reduced power and pitched down as I watched, mesmerized, the pen floating out of my hand and toward the back of the plane. The sensation of a zero-G maneuver plays out as if it's still happening each time I remember this moment. After that, I could never turn back from the world of aviation. My Discovery Flight was the result of a year-long effort to make a post-high school plan. My lifelong love of aviation led me to intensely research routes to become a pilot. Before I ever flew that plane, I had a near-complete understanding of every option a student pilot had, and I began forming the process I’d take to reach the airlines. I only needed a flight to confirm my ambitions were pursuable, and my discovery experience showed me I was making the right choice. Since then, I’ve completed ten flight hours and intend to fly solo before starting college. Through flying, I’ve realized a career is not an end to the means, it must give me a sense of purpose and authentic love for what I do. Aviation brings me this in the thrill of manipulating a plane, the character of its people, and my personal interests in aeronautical machinery. The control my instructor gives me over our aircraft exhilarates me as I take off, perform maneuvers, and land on my own. The community within aviation is one of camaraderie and liveliness, and in my opinion people only pursue flight when they have an intense passion for it, which makes them all the more genuine. The technology I get to work with is intricate and immersive- I'm constantly fascinated by what humans have managed to engineer in aviation and I desire to learn as much as possible. All these aspects ignite passion in me, and it's a feeling I can carry with me for the rest of my life by carving a path in this field. Success to me is the feeling of fulfillment I achieve in flying, knowing I’ve made the choice to build my professional life meaningfully. It’s something I feel now in my excitement to begin flight training at university and something I have yet to feel when I officially launch my commercial pilot career. Finding success also means having something to lose; a livelihood. My future in holding a successful career reminds me to be dedicated and disciplined in my studies now to become the best aviator I can. To meet my goals, this fall I will be attending Central Washington University. It is a brick and mortar route that isn’t required for pilots to take, but I’ve always dreamed of going to college, especially in my home state. To me, there’s no rush to push through my flight training in a typical two-year private flight school, I am happy to have the opportunity to spread out my studies over four years. Giving me time to more fully grasp flight skills, it allows me to have a longer period of youth before entering the professional workforce, and I’ll gain more skills than I would by choosing the private route. I will be double-majoring, earning one Bachelor in Professional Flight and another in Aviation Management. With so many aspects of aviation that inspire me, I’ve chosen to take on two aviation degrees in order to have a larger perspective on the industry and expand my career opportunities. One opportunity I look forward to at university that actually expands my definition of success is joining Central’s Women in Aviation Chapter Club. In the years since I began plotting my future in aviation, the significance of being a woman and a pilot became more clear. As a whole, women make up about 6% of all pilots. Within commercial airlines, that number falls even smaller. The reasons behind these statistics can be pointed at the obvious historical dominance of men in aviation. Not establishing a gender balance at the beginnings of this industry has severely tipped the scales. Even though society now embraces the idea of women in technical fields, repairing the leftover gap has been a decades-long and very uphill movement. The most crucial way to rebalance lies in instilling encouragement in the next generations to embrace the paths they truly want, regardless of tradition. By joining Women in Aviation, I look forward to working with youth to expand the idea that women can thrive and find belonging in this field, and to assist those who desire to start a career in it. Through this, I’ll fulfill my (expanded) definition: Part of finding success for yourself means leaving a way for others to find it too.

The first time I flew a single-engine plane, my instructor handed me a pen and told me to let it sit flat on my hand. He reduced power and pitched down as I watched, mesmerized, the pen floating out of my hand and toward the back of the plane. The sensation of a zero-G maneuver plays out as if it's still happening each time I remember this moment. After that, I could never turn back from the world of aviation. A passion for flying was developed early in my life, influenced by two family members who have held distinguished careers as pilots. My cousin flew Marine helicopters and earned the privilege of flying Marine One for a President. My great-uncle flew B-24s for covert OSS missions during World War II, continued his love for flying with Eastern Airlines for three decades, and volunteered himself for Mercy Medical Angels. He flew until his passing at age 98. Their impressive stories sparked motivation to create my own aviation path. My Discovery Flight was the result of a year-long effort to make a post-high school plan. My lifelong love of aviation led me to intensely research routes to become a pilot. Before I ever flew that plane, I had a near-complete understanding of every option a student pilot had, and I began forming the process I’d take to reach the airlines. I only needed a flight to confirm my ambitions were pursuable, and my discovery experience showed me I was making the right choice. Since then, I’ve completed ten flight hours and intend to fly solo before starting college. Through flying, I’ve realized a career is not an end to the means, it must give me a sense of purpose and authentic love for what I do. I find exhilaration in performing maneuvers on my own, community in the lively camaraderie of aviators, and fascination for aviation’s intricate engineering. All these aspects ignite passion in me, and it's a feeling I can carry with me for the rest of my life by carving a path in this field. This fall, I’m attending Central Washington University for a Bachelor’s degree in professional flight, earning certificates necessary for an airline career. Once I’ve earned my PPL, I’ll apply to regional airline programs, aiming for the Horizon Airlines Pilot Development Program. After graduating, I’ll use my CFI rating to build hours before advancing to the regionals. My goals in college are to immerse myself in this field with every resource possible and emerge a well-rounded pilot with industry-wide skills. To do this, I’m also double-majoring in Aviation Management, joining CWU’s Women in Aviation and ALPA Ace Clubs, and residing in the aviation community dorm. I’m eager to start this next chapter of my life and build a fulfilling career for myself. Community involvement has been embedded in me since middle school. I’ve been a Girl Scout, a school club Vice President, and a volunteer for several organizations. Volunteering for my local food bank has allowed me to generate the most impact on my community compared with my other activities, making it my favorite. Each week, I work with a team to organize the bank and assist clients in getting essential supplies. My work has captured the attention of those in charge, who invited me to speak on behalf of youth volunteers in a video interview. Having a role there gives me the invaluable opportunity of uplifting my community members, something I’d love to continue at my college’s food bank.

On my Discovery Flight, my instructor handed me a pen and told me to let it sit flat on my hand. He reduced engine power and pitched down as I watched, mesmerized, the pen floating out of my hand and toward the back of the plane. The sensation of a zero-G maneuver plays out as if it’s still happening each time I remember this moment. After that, I could never turn back from the world of aviation. A passion for flying was developed early in my life, influenced by two family members who have held distinguished careers as pilots. My cousin flew Marine helicopters and earned the privilege of flying Marine One for a President. My great-uncle flew B-24s for covert OSS missions during World War II, continued his love for flying with Eastern Airlines for three decades, and volunteered himself for Mercy Medical Angels. He flew until his passing at age 98. Their impressive stories sparked motivation to create my own aviation path. My Discovery Flight resulted from a year-long effort to identify what I wanted after high school. I entered tenth grade curious about how I could turn my lifelong interest in aviation into a career. I enrolled in a career planning course and researched forms of piloting positions and schooling. Before I ever flew a single-engine plane, I had a near-complete understanding of every option a student pilot had and began forming the process I would take to become an airline pilot. I only needed a flight to confirm my ambitions were pursuable, and my discovery experience showed me I was making the right choice. Though pilots are not required to hold a degree, going to college has always been my goal. I spent much of my time the past two years searching for universities that offer four-year flight programs and studies in additional aspects of the aviation industry. Being a Washingtonian, I also desire to remain in-state. Central Washington University has become my dream school by intersecting all my needs. I just applied to their aviation program, choosing its in-depth flight school to earn every rating needed to become a flight instructor and later enter the airlines. I intend to double-major in Aviation Management to broaden my understanding of the aviation business, expanding my career opportunities and industry connections. I'm also interested in pursuing an Airframe and Powerplant Certificate in college. This requires immense studying and is known for its complexity, but in passing the exam I'd enter my flight career having an intense understanding of aircraft systems. I hope to use this knowledge to visualize areas of concern and make the best choices possible to retain safety. Additionally, at Central, I'll have outlets to involve myself in the campus and aviation community. I look forward to joining the local Women in Aviation Chapter and EQuAl Club, allowing me to advocate for and expand diversity within flight and the university. Having these outlets matches my drive to help people feel welcome. As a junior, I was Vice President of my school's Gender-Sexuality Alliance, a group aimed at creating a safe space for people of all identities. I helped plan and run weekly meetings, provided comfort to those struggling the best I could, and defended the group when we were targeted by those who did not want a club like ours in the school. I learned the most crucial part of community involvement is to not be idle when facing challenges, but to stand up and openly support the people you believe in. As a pilot, I will remain a leader that ceaselessly supports my team.