"Why do you want to be a fighter pilot, Brianna? Girls do not typically fly planes, especially fighter jets." Most kids would be ecstatic to hear the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" however, I knew what was coming for me when I answered the question. Weird or surprised looks, skepticism, or the sentence previously said was a typical response to me answering the question all grown-ups asked my peers and me growing up. None of my immediate family members were in the military, but I had some powerful women who inspired me with their previous Air Force careers. My aunt and great-aunt were both in the Air Force, inspiring me to follow in their footsteps. Neither of them ever were skeptical about my passion for aviation, but instead encouraged it. I flew in an airplane for the first time at nine years old to fly to Disney World. All I could think about was imagining myself in a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier and being a hero to my country. I could almost say that my favorite part of that trip was being able to soar above the skies in an airplane. I was raised in Oklahoma, which offers a lot of aviation opportunities. However, Oklahoma is notoriously traditional when it comes to gender roles. It was not until I was a teenager, that any of my female peers wanted a career that was not a nurse, teacher, or veterinarian. Those careers are amazing and I have the utmost respect for young men and women pursuing pink-collar careers, the only issue was that it seemed as if those were the few careers that we girls were encouraged to go into. In most cases, I would have felt discouraged and felt as though my dream to be a fighter pilot was unrealistic. Instead, my passion for aviation became the reason I woke up every morning. I spent the rest of my years in elementary school researching airplanes and spent most of my screen time on the Air Force's website researching different careers and fueling my passion for achieving my "unrealistic" goals. I did not know what "breaking the glass ceiling" was when I was in elementary school, however, I was unknowingly working towards breaking the glass ceiling to not only fulfill my God-given purpose but also have proof that women/other minorities can be fighter pilots too. As I got older, people started to become more accepting of my goals and even encouraged me to continue to pursue them. Instead of skepticism and weird looks, I received praise and better yet, had opportunities introduced to me. I took advantage of every opportunity in front of me, including a trip to Colorado Springs to see the Air Force Academy and Peterson AFB. I was on cloud nine the entire trip, I had never felt so motivated to continue pursuing my aviation goals. I had recently completed my first year of college at my local community college. It was not ideal, but thankfully it saved me a huge financial burden despite not having as much to offer when it came to aviation. I will be completing my Bachelor in Aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University before finally becoming one of the few fighter pilots in the United States Air Force. My passion for aviation these next three years will be fueled by my desire for aviation and serving my country, as well as inspiring other young women to pursue their goals that may seem "unrealistic" such as mine.

My entire life has been centered around one thing: aviation. Despite growing up in a harsh environment, I always made sure to maintain academic excellence in my high school studies and keep my focus on my goal of becoming a fighter pilot for the United States Air Force. I have been blessed with already having connections with current Air Force recruiters, active duty/retired personnel, and employees. Being exposed to a new school in a new state will allow me to make more inside connections within the Air Force. Meeting new people who once had the same or a similar goal as me is so inspiring and fuels my motivation to work hard and break the glass ceiling by becoming one of the few female fighter pilots. I am an upcoming second-year college student starting my first year at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University majoring in Aeronautics. I recently completed my first year of college at Tulsa Community College whilst dual majoring in Air Traffic Control and Liberal Arts. Although spending my freshman year at my local community college with a backup major was not my first choice, I used my attendance there to my advantage by taking extra classes and saving some financial burden. Thankfully, with a major in Aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, I will be several steps closer to my career as a fighter pilot. With multiple pilot-related classes and programs, my educational background will provide a major advantage in the pilot selection process in the Air Force. School has always been important to me, as I will be maintaining high academic standing to further reach my goals. Unfortunately, a major setback to wanting an aviation career is that secondary education and flight hours are costly. I am currently working three different jobs to help save money for the upcoming semester. While it can be exhausting, once I achieve my final goal of obtaining my pilot career, it will all be worth the hassle. On top of working multiple jobs, I also have dedicated a lot of time to researching the Internet for scholarships and financial aid through Embry-Riddle. Having enough finances is one of the major keys for me to achieve my goals. I wholeheartedly believe this scholarship will not only help me simply pay for my education, but also allow me to focus more on my schoolwork, and possibly have the finances for additional flight hours. Even if I am not awarded this scholarship, I will not allow setbacks to keep me from fulfilling my God-given purpose of serving my country. I will continue to work harder than most to reach my ultimate goal of becoming one of the few female fighter pilots in the United States Air Force.

My name is Brianna, I am from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and aviation has been on my heart since I was a kid. I have always loved watching any sort of aircraft in the skies above, it gave me adrenaline rushes like no other. After visiting Colorado Springs when I was in the eighth grade and seeing Air Force bases, the Academy, and more, I was convinced that aviation was my passion through and through. Being a girl raised in a less progressive area, I was constantly told that it was "unusual" for girls to want to become a pilot, especially one in the military. Apparently, it was "unheard of" for girls to grow up and become fighter pilots. My family probably thought my childhood dream would wear off by the time I became a teenager, but the opposite happened. I simply became more and more passionate about aviation as time went by. Giving into peer pressure is an issue for every kid, including myself growing up. At times, my friends and other girls thought it was strange that I did not want to become a nurse or a teacher like them, but instead become a fighter pilot. They would try to convince me that it was "unrealistic" even though we were only in the sixth grade when the phrase "unrealistic" should not even be in our vocabularies. "You could get shot and killed out of the sky!" was a phrase I heard quite often; even from my own family, not just the girls at school. However, I shook it off. I had to step up and become my own leader from this point forward if I really wanted to obtain my dream and not give into the pressure of picking a more "realistic" career. I always imagined good leaders maintaining the "Four C's," charisma, creativity, cooperation, and class. I went to an extremely small school for most of my life that did not offer a ton of extracurriculars, but I was involved with what I could be. Track and Student Council were my favorite out of any extracurriculars I did growing up because I was able to show the Four C's more often than other activities I was involved with. During Student Council, I was able to express my creative ideas for school activities, hear out any feedback and cooperate with other members, demonstrate class by maintaining a professional tone and dialect, and of course earn the liking of other members by being charismatic. As for track, I was one of four senior girls on our team. Our team culture was toxic in past years and I took it upon myself to fix the team culture with help from the other three seniors. We had to cooperate together to make sure we were on the same page with reforming the culture, be kind and charismatic toward our younger teammates to better our culture and even performance as encouragement is key for any team performance, come up with creative team-bonding activities such as doing a morning devotional/sermon once a week together, and maintaining class by being respectful towards everyone and keeping a good attitude. I had recently completed my first year of college maintaining high academic standing with them with an aviation major, all while using the Four C's. As I make my way through my journey of becoming one of the few female fighter pilots, I will continue to practice those leadership principles.

While it may sound cliche, the telephone has undeniably made our world a better place. From the first telegram Alexander Graham Bell sent, to the most recent phone call you made to your mom about when the next family gathering is, it is no secret that phones have made a huge impact on our society. Taking social media out of the equation, phones having the ability to keep us connected by being able to hear each other's voices is a major accomplishment in technology that we now take for granted. Think about it, if we were able to time travel and show someone from 200 years ago how we can simply dial a number and hear the voice of someone who lives across the world, it would send them into a coma. Growing up, my family life was extremely unstable, even borderline dangerous at times. Things have slightly improved since I moved out, but I still think back on the times when I would call my grandma in my locked bathroom begging her to come pick me up from my house. If my grandma allowed me to take refuge in her apartment, I would call whichever friend I knew would be able to answer the phone the fastest to find a sense of comfort in them since I am not close with my family. Being able to reach out to my extended family members and my friends via phone call when things got scary in my household was truthfully a blessing, and allowed me to appreciate how this seemingly simple innovation is in fact, not so simple, but instead a lifesaver for many people such as myself.