My passion for aviation goes beyond just being about a career. Aviation, to me, is what I grew up with my whole life. My family has connections in it, and I have dreamed of flying since I learned about aviation. Ever since I took my first flight at 7 weeks old, I have dreamed of flying, and I am now applying to aviation colleges to pursue my goals of being a commercial airline pilot. My whole life I’ve grown up in aviation, and it’s no wonder why it consumes my interests and dreams of being in the sky with an aircraft. My family’s history in aviation runs in many separate paths, but all have the same aspiration of being around aviation. My grandfather is very interested in aviation and has held a private pilot’s license for over 50 years, attending annual air races and shows to continue surrounding himself with the aviation world. I have a cousin currently working on building the flight hours needed to eventually become a firefighting pilot. Finally, my dad flew helicopters in the Army before becoming medically grounded, and spent the rest of his military career working with UAV’s. All these people in my life who also appreciate and love aviation have inspired me in some ways, encouraging me to work harder and think about how I will pursue becoming a pilot one day. Aviation appeals to me personally because it gives me wonder and curiosity beyond what anything else does to spark my interest. Since I was a toddler, I have said things like how I’m going to be a daring Blue Angel Navy pilot, and now that dream has evolved to being a commercial airline pilot. Aviation is fascinating to me because of aspects like how the engineering of each aircraft is precisely put together, and even the smallest ding to the parts will make the entire plane inoperable until replaced. Aviation continues to be interesting to me because of the constant need to be working on your skills and stay up to date, like how commercial pilots are required to do mandatory retraining and checks every 6 to 12 months. This means that my precision, discipline, and decision-making skills will not become complacent and will constantly provide me with the challenge to stay up to date and knowledgeable about what I am doing. My current ambition is to one day become a captain at a major airline. I have this goal because I want to be the person hundreds of lives are counting on to safely fly them to their destinations. I want to be able to have self-pride in knowing I helped so many people get to their destinations each day, whether they were going on vacation, reuniting with family, or going on a work trip. Being able to experience this responsibility and pressure, and then have the satisfaction of doing my job completely right when we land safely is what I am striving for in this career. To be in a position where so many people place their trust in me is a feeling that I cannot describe, but I will feel honored that they do, and I will do everything to the best of my ability to responsibly get to where we are headed. Aviation isn’t just a simple hobby or interest of mine. Aviation is my entire dream and aspiration for what I want my life to be about. Aviation has inspired me to be able to work hard, and I want for it to be my daily life. Thank you.

My name is Liam, and I am a senior at St. John Paul II Catholic High School. I am active in numerous activities, including Link Crew, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, baseball, and scouting. I’ve been an outstanding student throughout high school, making the honor roll every semester and taking five AP classes. I’ve participated in many activities growing up while also experiencing the hardships of moving often because my father is in the military. Throughout my life, I’ve had one constant: aviation. I’ve been surrounded by it my whole life because of my father’s interest, my grandfather’s interest, and our constant travel, which has led me to be around planes my whole life. My interest in aviation came from my family background and my interest in planes. It was my father’s childhood dream to become a commercial airline pilot, so he has loved planes as I do since he was a child growing up. In his military career, he served as an Army helicopter pilot before becoming medically grounded and afterwards worked with UAV’s in the Army. My grandfather has also been an influence on my aviation passion because he has held a private pilot’s license for over 50 years and attends annual air shows, surrounding himself with more aviation. My own interest comes from constantly being in an environment with planes. My first flight came when I was seven weeks old, and since then I’ve been on planes to travel more times than I can count. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve said I wanted to fly, whether it was being a Navy Blue Angels pilot or a commercial airline pilot; I’ve said I wanted to fly since a young age. Planes have always interested me, especially now that I am a high school senior looking at where I am going to college. I've had a lot to consider when deciding between a military school route and a more traditional college path. As well as looking into each flight program to determine the perks and values I would be getting out of one program versus another. Ultimately, I have chosen to pursue an aviation career through a university college experience. My qualities of leadership have been exemplified over many years, first starting with my scouting journey. For multiple years, I served in positions of responsibility, including quartermaster, patrol leader, and senior patrol leader in my troop before becoming an Eagle Scout. After earning my Eagle, I continued to deepen my involvement in scouting by joining the Order of the Arrow and earning Brotherhood rank in that society. At school, I have taken initiative to be more responsible and shape myself into a better leader. I have become a Link Crew member, helping guide new freshmen and transfer students into the school. I have also taken on the responsibility of being a co-leader in Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Within the past year, I have also attended two leadership conferences: one for Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the other was the Ole Miss Trent Lott Emerging Leaders Conference. Stepping into my final season of baseball, I am one of the senior team captains. All my experiences have been for the greater good of shaping me into the person I am today and preparing me for responsibility in life and aviation. Aviation is a passion of mine, and I hope to continue to make it my future too by becoming a pilot. I want to carry my experiences from the hardships I’ve learned in leadership, discipline, responsibility, and perseverance into my career and everyday life. Thank you for your consideration.