Dear Blue River Aviation, 1) It was good timing and good luck that led me to aviation. My father, who had reached the common middle point of life where excitement is needed, was searching for a hobby and stumbled upon results from the nearby airport. An airport located on the suburbs of Chicago called his name. My father found an FBO operating at the airport and scheduled a discovery flight for the following day. To say the least, his excitement after the flight that day was contagious and enticing. Not long after though, my father ran out of funds to continue his entrance into the aviation community. At the same time, I was beginning my senior year before heading to college, and I still had not the slightest idea of how I was going to fit into the world. Every day I passed by the business card and flight pamphlet hung on the fridge. The advice I was consistently given was to simply try everything and hopefully one career field would stick. By sheer luck, I called one day in October and the manager decided to take me up for a sunset flight that same day. The entire first meeting and walk around of the plane was a blur. With the shut of the cockpit door, the buckle of my seat belt, the placing of the headset, and the final thumbs up before starting the engine–I had never felt such an anticipation for what was to happen. That sunset flight was one of the best decisions of my life. Aviation was never communicated to me as a career option, quite possibly due to its out-of-the-box path. I believe there is something so very special about seeing the aspiration of your career fly over your very head multiple times a day. Every day after that sunset flight was a constant reminder of the choice I had made to enter the aviation field. Thus, my decision to begin flight training and head to college was settled. 2) The topic of safety cannot be stressed enough on its impact of the entire aviation industry. There are less planes in the sky than cars on the road, yet more regulations exist for airspace. A very crucial, yet sometimes forgotten or underestimated, part of aviation are the use of checklists. Being part of a flight school, mistakes are communicated to all of us whether major or minor, in order to facilitate learning. Learning from others makes us all better pilots, and I can say that at least half of all mistakes are caused by omitting an item on the checklist. The use of checklists and spatial orientation allow for making sure I and others are safe in the airspace around us. 3) To make mistakes in aviation is not a rare occurrence, however, the magnitude of them may be. Over the last century of aerospace, flight has become significantly safer, to the point that it is a statistically safer option than driving a vehicle. No matter how safe, accidents still happen. This was a difficult concept for me to grasp after my aviation accident. A few months into my training, small overlooks while preparing for a cross country flight caused my accident “chain” to form. On a fair weather day during takeoff, the airplane that I and an instructor were in stalled. This means we lost lift to one or both wings and therefore we fell back towards the runway. Unfortunately, due to being uncoordinated, the airplane veered towards one direction, forcing us to land in a field. No one was hurt, besides a significantly damaged plane. That day changed my life. Naturally, a fear of stalling infected me day in and day out after that incident. I felt completely at fault and considered it to possibly be a warning that I was not made for aviation. With the help of fellow aviators, family, and support organizations, I can say I successfully overcame what occurred that day. Simply put, it takes time, developing new mental processes, and encouragement to try to return to a state of life like before the accident ever happened. I will be the first to say that going back to who you were is not a possibility, and it should not be. The lessons learned from making major mistakes are pivotal to self-development. 4) I hold an extremely sequential mindset where checklists and step-by-step instructions are my holy grail. Therefore, you can count on me to make sure all the requirements are met at all phases of flight. Due to my additional study in aviation administration, I hope to be someone that can oversee airport operations. I am currently enrolled in a leadership program that allows me to learn how I can better step in and aid in problem solving. Skills that are also important for aviation majors are a willingness to admit when you are at fault, ability to hear and reason with other opinions, competency to work with a team, and skill in remaining composed during stressful situations. These apply to a variety of aviation roles such as pilots, air traffic controllers, airport managers, and maintenance technicians. 5) Spreading the love of aviation is a large part of keeping the industry running. If I had known about aviation sooner, I may have begun flight training earlier and therefore gotten an edge on hours needed for the licenses. Organizations at my educational institution such as Women in Aviation, Airline Pilots Association, and Airport Executives interact with local scout troops and high schools to provide an opportunity for aviation education early on. 6) I believe that by holding a variety of aviation experience in areas such as management, flight, and dispatch, I can be a more well rounded candidate. I have flight experience with a large interest in dispatching at a major Chicago airport. Eventually, with the accumulation of experience, I aim to transition in working for the FAA or NTSB in aircraft regulations and aircraft accident investigation. It was administrators of the FAA who further encouraged me to continue flight training regardless of my accident. The aviation community is one of the most supportive and genuine groups out there. Receiving these scholarship funds would mean I could pay for the rest of my flight training, and additionally apply it to the cost of my degree. I am currently working towards a Bachelor’s in Aviation Administration with a Minor in Aircraft Dispatch, and hoping to extend to a Master’s within the next year. Thank you for your time and consideration! Maya Lesniak

My mother is the type of person you would see behind the wheel of a mini-van, always wide-eyed, always on a mission, but never out and about only to have fun. She is a really traditional woman, an immigrant from Europe who dedicated 15 years being a stay-at-home mother. The unique aspect which makes her different from all other moms is her rebellion against "stay-at-home" mom being her entire personality. She would find time to pick up odd-jobs in order to not allow my father to feel a large burden with finances. It is truly amazing how one woman can take on children, multiple jobs, AND an education. All throughout my life, my mother was taking 1 or 2 college classes at a time. The pace was slow this way and I knew she was consistently frustrated with her progress. To the testament of her strength, she never gave up. Today, she stands having raised 2 adult children and 1 currently elementary student. On top of this, in a year, my Polish mother will graduate from Aurora University with her Bachelor's in Nursing. For 19 years, this wonderful woman has put on a brave face and been proud of me for every little thing. Now, it is her turn to be the spectacle of her family's love. Words tend to lose me when I think of my mother. I think she holds a title on every virtuous word in the English dictionary (and all those in Polish too). She became the angel on my shoulder. She taught me kindness without expectations, forgiveness without barriers, laughter unrestrained, responsibility for each of our roles in the household's success, and many more lessons I cannot begin to list out. She specifically taught me when to fight for myself, when to cut my losses, the importance of self-sufficiency in work, cooking, and upkeep. My mother's ability to take life as it comes nonchalantly is what drove my dad crazy but what helped us kids deal with loss. The greatest gift my mother gave me was the security to give people second chances. Her reliability remains undeniable, and like a quote I once heard; "[i]t should be boring how reliable a parent is" - Adam Sandler. To provide a scholarship fund in mother Biada's name is only confirmation that she was a remarkable woman. I understand the gift of being blessed with a caregiver that pushes you to find religion. My mother is the only reason my family remembers to attend church on even the smallest of holidays. I find it heartwarming that there's a chance Ginny Biada could have indirectly helped my mother through her financial aid endeavors in the Midwest. Thank you for this opportunity!

1. Being the first in the family means I am in uncharted waters. There is a constant back-and-forth of support. Oftentimes my parents push me to learn more, study longer, think harder. Other times, my parents worry that I won't be able to finish college. It is never said out loud, but it is occasionally implied. It seems no one talks about the anti-support that immigrant parents can provide. They do not have faith in the education system because they have never experienced secondary education themselves. Inevitably, this leaves me confused. Is college the right choice? The answer is an enthusiastic yes. Since I could read, school was the ultimate provider of happiness for me. I loved proving that I could learn, remember, recite, and persevere past challenges. In this day and age, a college degree is becoming like that of a high school diploma; it is expected. So whether my parents had earned degrees or not, I would still be pursuing university-level classes because they increase my chances for success. 2. At my four-year university I undertook the specified field of Aviation Administration. Before that, I was flying planes in order to become a pilot. However, I felt that I could be more extraordinary in a position of power and overseeing. My education will offer me managerial positions within the government and airspace. 3. My overall purpose with this degree is to instill new ways of navigating airports. For far too long, minorities, who include those not native to the English language and those with disabilities, have endured humiliating travel incidences. Most travel accidents are preventable. An individual boarding a flight to see their loved ones should not have to experience financial mistakes, mental or emotional turmoil, and day-long delays simply because they are not as able-bodied as others. Along the way I would like to travel outside my own bubble. Part of being educated is being cultured. Travel to me would include meeting pilots from all around the world, getting to board some of those flights and see how international airports operate, and meeting with government officials to improve our current airspace. My last objective would be to create my own scholarship fund! It seems insane to some when I tell them that I want to provide grants for others who are walking in similar shoes. My belief holds that women need more opportunities in this world. Money can be the ultimate factor in whether a woman stops after high school or finishes college. Ultimately, from what this world has taught me, I know that all of this is possible.

From the books I have read and the films I have seen, nothing directly quoted from any of these sources has stuck out to me. The one idea that I took away after looking at my entire life filled with creative works was education. No one tells you that you can teach yourself in this day and age, like how philosophers did in Rome. You can read and research and observe which all catapults the enactment of learning! This idea has been so revolutionary to me that I needed to share it with someone. That person was my college writing professor. His well-rounded nature inspires me every single day so there was no one better to challenge with this revelation. When he was approached by me with this thought, I could not believe that it did not surprise him like it did me. Dr. Ross laughed and said "Maya, you are my favorite student, but your generation never understood the importance of education. The power that you hold the second you learn to read... it is all you need to find true knowledge." That is precisely what movies and books have taught me. Their lasting impression is one in which I realize I hold my own education in my hands. As a result, the way I approach lectures has shifted. Homework should be recognized as opportunities to make your mind aware of new topics. Essay assignments are opportunities to delve into the deepest layers of scholarly sources, and watch as the most prominent individuals in a field argue against each other. Presentations are opportunities to share findings and practice speaking in a writerly way which educates those around us. Society begins to make sense when you view education this way. Everyone incurs their own interests which we pursue. When we pursue, we learn. Then it is our responsibility to teach others about our interests which those others would not normally learn about on their own. It can be comfortable to place the duty of improving this world on someone else. It is easy to say that others should be the saviors of our planet because they are smarter, richer, or more social. This is not true. Taking the time to sit and learn gets the cogs turning in our brains. When I began to research solutions to medical malpractice over a year ago, I expected to hit a brick wall. How could I possibly know enough to offer any solutions to this incredibly huge issue? It was not about knowing enough however, it was about looking at an idea through another lens. What makes this work is each person's uniqueness on this Earth which allows all of us to see something differently. I came up with solutions using my background and I really believe they can change this world. The best part is there are no limits to the amount of topics we can apply this concept to. I come from a family of under-educated individuals. It only added to my instinct to be self-reliant thus self-teaching. My major is aviation administration, and the same way I aimed to find solutions to malpractice, I aim to address challenges seen in airports. These range from security issues to accessibility issues for minorities who are consistently overlooked. With your support I can continue learning!

Radar inspires me. I will admit that I hold some bias because aviation is my major. One of the topics all pilots hold near to their hearts is radar. It can be noted that although radar is a familiar concept to many, it is not appreciated for its capabilities. Those who have been saved by the technology of radar will be the first dote on it, and it does exactly that, save lives. Radar is used by military, meteorologists, pilots, law enforcement, ship captains, geologists, physicists, engineers, and so many more. Recently, multiple initiatives to get radar into healthcare have appeared. The main way we utilize radar is to track large frontal boundaries in weather. The world "radar" itself is an acronym: RAdio Detection And Ranging. Imagine a world in which we could not predict hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, and thunderstorms. In fact, no human on Earth would be made aware of these natural disasters until they had already begun. In other words, no one would know until it was too late. Thanks to radar systems we have built today such as Doppler radar and Nexrad, we have the possibility of a 100% survival rate from natural disasters. Towns, states, and countries are able to seek shelter before a major weather phenomenon. This kind of warning is priceless. Knowing that we created radar from inventions we already had such as televisions and radios makes me wonder how many more inventions are possible if we simply expand the ways in which we use current technologies. Furthermore, improving the timeliness and accuracy with which our systems operate today can have a profound effect on how society progresses.

Religion as Projection Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) Pg. 149 (1) That which is to man the self-existent, the highest being, to which he can conceive nothing higher—that is to him the Divine Being. How then should he inquire concerning this being, what He (5) is in himself? If God were an object to the bird, he would be a winged being: the bird knows nothing higher, nothing more blissful, than the winged condition. How ludicrous would it be if this bird pronounced: to me God appears as a bird, but what he is (10) in himself I know not. To the bird the highest nature is the bird-nature; take from him the conception of this, and you take from him the conception of the highest being. How, then, could he ask whether God in himself were winged? To ask whether God is in (15) himself what he is for me, is to ask whether God is God, is to lift oneself above one’s God, to rise up against him. This excerpt establishes Feuerbach’s analysis of religion according to man. He focuses on Christianity, which holds a branch that dominated Germany in the 1800s. Feuerbach takes the religious remarks of philosophers such as Descartes, Hume, and Kant. He argues for and against them in his own writing, Religion as Projection. I believe that with this excerpt, Feuerbach aims to prove his “mirror theory” and convince the audience that God does not exist. The excerpt above begins with defining what the Divine Being is. He is “self-existent” meaning this being is the cause of no one. Other ways to interpret this is the Diving Being was not created by others. It simply exists and there is nothing which holds more power or preceded its own existence, as evident by line two. This thought process causes turmoil in the human mind (line three). Humans have a difficult time interpreting their own existence in this universe. More specifically, humans cannot comprehend their creation. The difficulty in understanding our own creation stems from the fact that we have had no prior example. If this Divine Being had been created, there would exist a notion by which humans could follow to analyze their own coming into the world. Since this being is the first, the highest, there is no way to compare ourselves. When we enter line five, Feuerbach begins with an analogous statement of the relationship between bird and God, such as we could find between human and God. Feuerbach’s aim is to remove the reader from their own headspace concerning God. He needs the audience to look from the outside-in at how we perceive our own relationship to religion through another subject: a bird. “If God were an object to the bird, he would be a winged being,” shows us that the bird’s interpretation of the Divine Being would be another bird. This God however, would be the highest form of a bird. To put it simply, a bird would not envision its God to be a tall human, a large elephant, or the greenest tree. Therefore, humans would only rationally envision God to be a superior form of a human being. Where Feuerbach begins to show us our “flawed” view of religion is line eight. Christians have always assumed and run with the idea that God is a model of man, but they have never left the door open for other interpretations. Take Hinduism, for example, which entertains the idea for animalistic gods. Most religions stray from taking up a similar thought process. To Feuerbach, this denial of other interpretations of a being whom no one can definitively prove is preposterous. It would be as if the bird claimed it saw its higher being as a bird but was open to other models of how this God may look. This would simply not happen. Yet, if we could, we as humans might find ourselves arguing with this bird that God is in fact a human image. We could not comprehend a higher non-human being such as a bird watching over us. In this way, Feuerbach exposes our close-mindedness which he aims to turn into a doubt of Christianity. In lines ten-thirteen Feuerbach confronts the audience with his “mirror theory”. This theory aims to convince the audience that humanity’s adopted religion is simply a fabricated and vane projection of ourselves. Our God then exists solely due to our own interpretation of the qualities of humans. We look into a mirror and receive an image of a being whom we desperately want to become. We project all of our treasured qualities into a being that “watches over us” and “aids us in attaining” these coveted human traits. Thus, society runs into a wall. Line thirteen confesses that humans are not able to doubt their interpretation of God as humanistic. If humans did not believe that they were the ultimate forms of life on Earth, then they would never model God after themselves. Thus it is humanity’s own prioritization of itself which causes religion and God to exist. Lines fifteen-eighteen end Feuerbach’s persuasion of the absurdity of God. If the image of God were not created by man then each individual would contain their own interpretations of who God is. To take one’s own interpretation, of say, God is a bird, is to say that one’s own interpretation is a higher being than perhaps whom God actually is. This would challenge God Himself. Therefore, the entire premise of a supreme, Divine Being is eliminated. This excerpt consequently does a brilliant job of walking the reader in their own circle to prove that, in fact, all thoughts of Christianity are formulated by their own opinions. To prove a thought, such as the existence of a God, using one’s own self-indulgent thoughts is to try to label an opinion as fact. It cannot be so.

This film was one of the most exhilarating and colorful to ever be introduced to me: Mamma Mia. Some families bond over a sport, some over weekly dinner discussions, some over a culture or religion, but mine united daily over movies. We have strict "laws" in our home that deal with when, with whom or without whom, and where we are to watch a movie. Out of the five people in my immediate family, we have certain groups for certain films; such as siblings who watch Seinfield, parents who watch Polish films, drama types who watch The Resident, and emotional types who watch Animal Planet. The way that my family navigates discussion and learning is through our family viewings where we share tears, laughs, and anticipation. Mamma Mia is one of those movies on rotation. My immigrant parents felt the best way to learn American culture was through Hollywood movies so my sister and I were sat down to view Mamma Mia the year it came out. Boy, we were starstruck for weeks after! The tale of Mamma Mia highlights an island girl's journey to love, while her mother experiences her own ups and downs of past love leading up to a momentous wedding. The film is bursting with musical numbers, dance sequences, jaw-dropping landscape, and main characters who cause trouble in paradise. There is no other movie I could watch for decades on end with the same emotional captivation as this one. Multiple lessons of love, money, mistakes, and dreams line the plot. Young viewers learn the important concepts of family, perseverance, marriage, and societal expectations. Older individuals have an abundance of applicable moments that deal with letting go, financial hardships, working past life regrets, and finding fulfillment even in older age. It's a family-oriented production that not only puts a smile on your face, but furthermore supports you going through life's difficult stages. I recall belting the songs at age 7, procrastinating homework at age 11 in order to watch, turning 17 to "Dancing Queen", and entering college at age 19 with this film as a reward after class. On difficult nights, my family and I hit "play" and let the songs melt away our worries; no words need to be spoken. Everyone will appreciate certain qualities of their own movies-on-repeat. Each movie has a lesson or two to pass on so that we may avoid certain mistakes. The difference between those movies and Mamma Mia is the effect it had on the actors too. I remember watching behind-the-scenes snippets of Mamma Mia in production. The amount of joy, tight-knit closeness, and experience that was developed on this set is second to none. It is incredibly interesting to note that the actors were allowed to participate in drinking throughout the entire production, and this simply makes watching the movie more entertaining when kept in mind. Everyone should have an opportunity to see this film. It is always as magical as the first time!

I am Maya Lesniak, a byproduct of immigrant parents with the American Dream buried deep in their core. My father only ever finished high school and my mother is back in school currently. My mother aims to finish her climb in education as a nurse. I come from a family of teachers, chefs, police officers, pharmacists, and carpenters. I am the first person in my family tree to have a dream of being a pilot. Those not familiar with the field do not know the cost of flight. It is like taking your anger at the gas price inflation happening in our world and throwing it into a pot of instructor costs, rental fees, and maintenance delays. Due to estimated flight costs of over $80,000 on top of tuition, I have had to take loans out from various sources in order to pay for the education. My parents try to help me the best they can but I cannot put that burden on them. The same people who encouraged me no matter what, found time to be there for me between holding multiple odd jobs, and raised 3 children who compete with each to be the brightest. I recently found myself in a difficult position when I needed to stop flying and instead save money. My parents were extremely concerned and there was much sadness in the household. I hold much hope that things will end up as they belong! The cornerstone of the American Dream is in fact hope. Due to aerospace being a niche field, there do not exist many financial support opportunities. With a scholarship I can find relief in knowing my tuition for next semester can be covered. This year I was able to attain a new job in hospitality that can both decrease my financial burden and also mentally help me escape it. I aim to pursue a second job over the summer so that my family can still have money to spend for the things we need. We may not have the most money but anyone with younger siblings will know that it is not a worry you should place on children. So I aim to make the summer as "rich" as possible for my family! My ultimate goal after leaving Lewis University is to find a job within an airline. Last semester, my aviation professor helped students find a topic within the field in which they aimed to improve. I immediately began a research project to address the effect of airports on those with disabilities. My neighbor, whom helped my parents raise me, is paralyzed from the waist down. She has recounted multiple horror stories of what traveling can be like for someone with a handicap. Even one preventable mistake is one too many. If we can improve airports for our most vulnerable population then we can make this world a better place. Money spent towards a degree to improve our societies is money well spent.

The first day of 2024 I sat cross legged on the carpet in my room with my palms together in prayer. My family who walked by periodically didn't know what to make of it. As parents do, they believed I had done something wrong and was asking God for forgiveness. I hate to burst their bubble, but I was only meditating. Meditation is so difficult and sincerely under-discussed. I had no plan to plant the idea of my religious devotion in my parents head, yet that is exactly what happened ten fold. Except, I would also deeply plant it in mine in the coming weeks. Week one after the start of meditation, my priest handed me a booklet after my routine trip to Sunday mass. He said I would need it for "the times ahead". It was a booklet about the Consecration to the Immaculate Virgin Mary. I thought "well isn't this weird?" It seemed that my priest had been waiting for me with only a single religious text in his hands. No one else had gotten one and I began to wonder if I had done something to embarrass myself during mass. Week two, sure enough, my priest was having dinner at the restaurant I worked at. I greeted him friendly and he beckoned me to come closer. Out of his jacket pocket, Father Sabo pulled out a holy card with none other than Mary on it. Now, this seemed like a strange coincidence from last week. At my place of work I had experienced yet another indication of Mary? That night before bed I opened the booklet given to me the week before and thought "what can I lose by reading about Mary?" Week three is when I sat my partner down and changed the dynamic of our relationship. I no longer felt like following the direction of society was the right thing to do. I began to wonder if I had sinned too much to go to heaven. The discussion was a turning point for both my partner and I who decided we would need to make room for the Lord in our relationship. Week four, the ultimate proof of God came like a wave. My neighbor, who had been born paralyzed from the waist down and told she would die before the age of 5, invited me over. At age 68, she liked to say she was a walking miracle but I never quite saw it that way. With time to spare, I thought I would get our discussion "over with". To my surprise her first words were "God keeps calling on me to talk to you". From there I listened intently to the story of her car accident many years ago. Her car specially made for her disability had slid and flipped over on the highway. The impact was not enough to knock her unconscious but enough to make her dazed. My neighbor says she recalls a white figure wrapping her in a cloth and a bright light that forced her to squint. When the first responders arrived on the scene, they were in utter shock at the fact that my neighbor lay, unharmed, in a white blanket inside her vehicle. The paramedics looked at each other and all thought the same thing: their blankets were blue with the hospital insignia... this was not theirs. With no other car, human, or objects in sight, there was only one conclusion. An angel had looked after my neighbor. This is when the idea of heaven in my mind opened.

Success is like a car! It comes looking different ways whether little or big, it will take you places if utilized, and some people like to diminish its worth. However, successes are personal. We can celebrate the accomplishments of others but we should never dwell on them or compare. I have had a lot of small successes such as meeting health goals, being approved for loans, visiting places I've dreamed about, and earning desired grades on assignments. Large successes are harder to come by however. I experienced graduating high school, getting a car, being accepted to the university of my choice, and recovering from a plane accident I thought would change the entire direction of my future. A lot of my insecurities actually came from lessening the worth of my successes due to others experiencing larger ones. At the end of the day however, our successes are what individualize us; they make us stand out. If we all had immense and incredibly similar successes, we would be like everyone else. Being granted this scholarship would be like a ladder to success which could push me to accomplish this degree before running out of money. I have funds to cover most of the first two years, but after this, I am not sure where the money will come from. I will be successful once my basic needs are covered and I can willingly give money out to people or places that need it. There is no reason that there are people in this world with so much money they cannot even gain happiness from it anymore. Lately, I have seen so much proof in life that when you give, you receive. In some unexplainable way, the money among other values comes back to you. This idea is important to me. I recently learned a lesson about success. My family and I were invited to an event at the local elementary school. My brother was to be a participant and we were excited, but as Polish people do, we hid it instead of creating posters and bringing flowers to celebrate my brother. In our culture, we believe that this withholding will allow us to want to pursue success through our own willingness instead of rely on the praise of others to want to achieve good things. So there we were at the community spelling bee with much tension placed on my sibling. When round one began, my family started to sweat. When my sibling stepped up to the microphone, we were on the edge of our seats. When he began to spell his word and the sound of the "incorrect buzzer" echoed throughout the auditorium, my father sighed in disappointment. I knew he was going to have some words for my brother later. As my brother approached my family after the event, he could feel the disappointed remarks coming so he decided to speak first. He said, "I know you're mad I got out the first round. I got nervous and I couldn't remember to spell. But, I'm happy I even got to be in it. I tried my best." He was right I realized. To him, his participation in the spelling bee was something to be proud of whether he got out in the first round or not. That day with my brother defining his own success, I learned the importance of the prompt of this scholarship. If you have trouble recognizing your successes, then at the very least do not adopt what other people want to define your successes as. Instead, start small and celebrate every little thing. Once again, if you see success as a car, you will acknowledge that not everyone will like your car, but it does not matter because it works for you!

A little about me is I am a freshman at Lewis University near Chicago, Illinois. My Polish mother was pregnant with me on her first and last plane ride with me to America. I am the middle child among an older sister and younger brother. I grew up in public schools all over Illinois but I believe I've found the private school I would like to stay at. There I can stay close to my Catholic philosophies, immerse myself in a wider span of cultures, and receive state-recognized education in my field: aviation. Aviation is seen as a career in science since it involves many scientific principles such as those associated with lift, drag, weight, and thrust. To no one's surprise but possibly my own, it contains much math too! All the women in my family pursue careers in science, in fact, my mother and sister are currently in secondary education as well in order to finish those degrees. With three out of five individuals in my household attending college, tensions are high with what amount of money should go where. With being the middle child, I do not exactly get the luck of the draw. Aviation is a sincerely expensive career to go into; putting the cost of college aside, flight for all 4 years of college is an estimated extra $80,000. I have loans to cover over half of all costs in the first two years, but after that, I am not sure where the money will come from. Regardless, my family aims to stay positive and will not let money stop us from chasing after our majors! After the third year of flight training I will be able to look for a paid job to fly for a company or school. One of the flight certificates I will receive at Lewis University is a flight instructor license. This will allow me to teach the next wave of pilots while also building up the hours I will need to fly for the airlines. I am really excited to be halfway through my first year in college albeit the money can be a worry. I cannot wait until I have the privileges to fly others to destinations around the country or around the world. Besides the airlines, I do have interests to become a missionary pilot who flies food and other supplies to regions of the world. With this education I can show other women that aviation is a possibility though it remains male-dominated. Furthermore, I'll have an impact on the following generations of incoming pilots. Good luck to all the women out there, may we never try to dim our fiery passions for any reason!

How many times have we had neighbors move in and out? How many times have those neighbors never uttered more than a hi or waved on their way to work? There could be tons of connections we are missing out on. It isn’t realized by some that a neighbor can change your life... nor that a woman can shape you into someone new. Mine did both. For 18 years, the interactions between my neighbor and I would shape my educational and career choices. I was kicking in my mother’s stomach on the plane ride here from Poland. We moved to Illinois when I was 1. Our house was the second house built on a street that looked like a road in the desert. Not long after, a 3rd house was built. That third house would open me up to a new way of life. During those first few months, I would see my neighbor come and go on wheelchairs, canes, and a bicycle. She was disabled and had overcome being paralyzed from the waist down. One day, I was playing outside as Ms. Jackson called me from her driveway. Between our driveways was a grass strip "boundary". I hobbled over there as a toddler because she was coloring on her driveway. I had never before seen an adult sit on the ground to draw and have fun. Adults around me were always so serious and only ever worried whether I ate all my veggies or brushed my teeth. Ms. Jackson was very American. She spoke freely and loudly about anything (though with a 4 year old it was more like cartoons and animals). She laughed frequently, and generously gave. As I grew up we discussed more and more of what I wanted out of my future and through her stories, she convinced me to go to college. Our grass strip encounters taught me it was okay to be direct with what I wanted, to be loud and expressive and energetic, and though we didn’t share the same language, we could appreciate each other’s cultures. This caused me to choose an educational facility that was multi-cultural and focused on growing independence, especially compared to the high school I attended prior. According to Ms. Jackson, she was only alive by the grace of God. If you search on any search engine “spina bifida”, you’ll be flooded with images of babies with a birth defect on their spine. It’s near impossible to find images of anyone older than a baby with this defect because no one survives it long. Yet, here my 55 year old neighbor was able to ride a bike, participate in ballet, and drive a car. She experienced hardships due to her disability wherever she went and travel was evidently the worst. Her adopted family lived in Florida. Airlines were notorious for disability incidents. From learning how my female neighbor with an extreme disability was handled in airports caused me to want to get involved. With my career choice in aviation, I would be able to consistently interact with disabled individuals and help them navigate the airport and also stick up for them when issues arise. Over 18 years, I experienced many joys and avoided countless mistakes thanks to the woman who had moved next door to me. I had exposed myself to her struggles, received advice on life's challenging questions, and chosen to attend a college nearby in order to still be able to aid my neighbor. Ms. Kim was the most powerful woman I had ever met but she was also the best neighbor someone could ask for.

Dora motivated me to pursue college. The first memory of mine that included a college discussion was when my mother had bought me a movie about Dora. She traversed ice castles to rescue a princess. I was enamored to say the least and I asked my mother how Dora could find daring locations such as the ice castles. My mother, an immigrant, found many ways to fit the idea of college into my head. She replied with, "Maya, Dora uses maps. Don't you see in her backpack?" That was not enough for me however, it did not explain how she could use or read those maps. I had seen globes a couple of times in homes and schools and I was no explorer. That is when my mother said," Dora is a cartographer, honey. She went to college and knows how to read maps." Oh boy how I wanted to go to college that morning. Through the years the discussions of higher education became more stressful. I saw my sister have panic attacks about college work and my parents yell about money and being a bum without a degree to make you worth something. I am not sure college is a happy choice for anyone. My father always said "You have to do things you don't want to do." Though college was not really a choice (unless I wanted to be kicked out of the home), my major was a controlling factor in the otherwise uncontrolled factors of the science experiment that is my life. My major is Aviation Flight Technology at a school in Illinois. I would call it physics. In this major we learn to fly planes safely and become pilots that would transport goods and people all around the world. Where would any college student be without a movie to back up their choice? I love Top Gun but I chose Aviation because I also love a challenge and the comfort of home after returning from an adventure. Aviation is becoming more and more involved with electronics and it has saved lives and also made this job more connected with the world on the ground. I have no family in this career path and so the end is very much unknown. Right now this major is extremely difficult. When I find myself down the road perhaps in the middle of my life, I know it will all be worthwhile.

There are stories out there of people like me with immigrant parents and grandparents who were born in a foreign country. However, my birth happened not far from the small town in Illinois I grew up in. In my case, I feel as though I had the worst of both worlds. The classmates that were born in a foreign county and arrived in America regardless of age, were seen as above the rest. They were cool because their passports said something other than "United States of America" under Place of Birth. Some of them even had accents and were chosen first for dodgeball teams and birthday parties. Then there were the American-born kids with American-born parents who felt they owned this country and never had trouble in school having to navigate another language. Alas, there was me stuck in the middle. I was out of place. I neither had a cool accent nor passport but instead a feeling of being lost in my country of birth while not having the option to go back to my country of heritage. Despite all this, I loved being Polish. Yes, we had no family to visit on holidays, no friends for a long time because of language barriers, and no help in knowing how to navigate America's societal rules. What we did have was long drives to find cultural grocery stores that carried our dishes, video calls with life updates from family overseas, and a language no one understood which allowed us to feel like secret agents. To me, my foreign country had not been tainted with memories of hardships and goodbyes. To me, my foreign country was like a dream I could someday grasp; something neither the foreign-born nor American-for-generations kids had. That was something I could be proud of. If I could be someone else for a day I would gladly choose Cecilia Blomdahl. She's well known for documenting her life near the North Pole. It is a life much different from mine but quiet and simple. She lives in Svalbard with a limited number of residents and jobs. What appeals to me is the different wildlife, climate, and foods I would discover. There are other priorities in Svalbard that are a bit less superficial than those in the United States. Besides, since I never lived in a foreign country, becoming Cecilia Blomdahl for a day would open me up to new hardships and joys!

Higher education is always such a push from immigrant parents. It is very helpful when you have the want to pursue higher education regardless. I can describe it as the moving walkways, or "conveyor belts" as I call them, in airports. You already have the want to get further in life by working hard to educate yourself but being first generation, like those airport walkways, is pushing you further and working harder to get you somewhere faster. I chose to pursue higher education because of its challenging aspect but also because of its guarantee. I believe all humans need to be challenged; we all have different levels of what is challenging to us but it is needed. Our brains and skills should be exercised constantly to find our current limits and then grow past them. In my life, I challenged myself by choosing a higher education facility away from home, with cultures I was not used to being around, in a major I was scared I would not be good enough for. The challenges gave me perspective. They allowed me satisfaction at seeing myself survive these challenges I was fearful would block me. Besides the challenges of higher education, the guarantee was important to me. I am not guaranteed a grade, I am not guaranteed a degree, and I am not guaranteed a job, but I AM guaranteed new knowledge I can take with me through life. The experiences, and specifically for my major: the hours, I partake in will put me that much closer to having the requirements needed for my career. By pursuing education, I found myself as a woman and aspiring pilot supported by those around me who also pursued higher education for their own reasons. In order for me to accomplish higher education as a first-generation student I needed a lot of counseling. No one close to me knew the process of application, adapting to a competitive living environment, or education and workload management. I knew that all these obstacles were achievable but I knew it would take me time and I would stumble at the beginning. Counselors were a place of rest for me to talk about all my issues and hear someone tell me that they are valid and normal and countless before me, though I may not personally know them, have done it. Now being in college, I can confidently say I am on the path to graduating with a degree as a first-generation student.

@lesniak_may_i

There is no greater love, says the Lord, than to lay down one's life for a friend. My neighbor of 19 years taught me this phrase. She needed the most help of any person I had ever met, yet help was the hardest necessity to ask for. My neighbor had been born with a disability named spina bifida. Past infanthood, it is nearly impossible to survive. Ms. Jackson, my neighbor, always said she was only alive by the grace of God. She may have survived but she was paralyzed from the waist down and life this way was grueling. However, for 50 years she has lived with this burden. It is beyond belief that I have been there for almost half of her life. Ms. Jackson lives alone and gets around on canes, walkers, and electric scooters. She hardly finds time to do the activities she loves due to a large number of constant doctor appointments to keep her healthy and monitor for decline. Ever since I reached walking age, I have been my neighbor's right hand. Even as a toddler, I could walk better than Ms. Jackson. She taught me English, my faith, and the strength to pursue the studies I am in now. I don't believe that I could have ever impacted my neighbor as much as she has impacted me. The support that I provide her can never amount to the wisdom she has instilled in me. By helping others, we in reality help ourselves. It is a sentiment I realize every day. The satisfaction and reputation you receive from serving is beneficial but it is NOTHING unless that experience does good for your heart and mind. Growing up, my neighbor would only ask for help until it was absolutely needed. If her wheelchair had gotten stuck and left her immobilized, she would not ask until she needed to eat or be at an appointment. If she had run out of water to drink, she would not say a word until I would text her first to check up on her. If she was emotionally distressed, she would not call for fear of "bothering" me. I consistently reminded her that she was never a burden and could call the second she needed or wanted ANYTHING. I wondered why she found it so hard to ask for help. Then one day I needed help too. I was experiencing domestic troubles and needed somewhere to stay. Picking up the phone and dialing Ms. Jackson was one of the most emotionally challenging obstacles I've had to overcome. It can be so difficult to ask for help because it causes us to be vulnerable. That day I vowed to help my neighbor without worrying about waiting to be asked to. I would walk to her house and bring her disposables out when it was time for garbage day; she could not lift the trash cans. I fed, refilled water, and changed litter for her cat when I noticed that she had been absent from the house all day. I dug out and replanted new flowers every summer when some of them had noticeably died; Ms. Jackson loved her home to look beautiful though she could not keep up with it. Every few weeks I would pick up the vacuum and head over to her home for a cleaning day; she felt embarrassed when guests arrived and she thought her home was dirty. The act of helping is what we humans were meant to do. We are to make others' lives easier. Sometimes, to them, it can mean the world.

The dream version of myself is commanding a Boeing 747, higher than Mount Everest at thirty-three thousand feet above the ground, where I can see the world in a way I've never seen before.

Resembling a zookeeper that’s terrified of snakes, a doctor who’s panicky about shots, or a teacher fearful of public speaking; I am a flight student scared by heights. Though this is an extreme example, sometimes the path we choose to take does not logically make sense to others, or even to ourselves. Though there are some other attributes I hold that scream “DO NOT BECOME A PILOT”—especially my ability to get lost with directions right in front of me—I find myself continuing to try to prove to myself that I can persevere past these obstacles. Perhaps that is what makes me stand out from my peers. At a young age, I was never quite like everyone else in my local district. Living midway between the desolate country and a growing suburban town, there didn’t seem to be any kids whose parents had immigrated to the country. My parents had, to no surprise, found jobs where they spoke so minimally that they could hide their foreignness. My sister and I were not so lucky. Our first year at school laid down a language barrier we needed to break down; we would have to learn to speak English. The years spent at my local grade school were not memories I liked to recount. I felt like a rodent on a wheel trying to catch up with my classmates. In the few years I had been in the United States exhaustingly trying to accustom to it, I never would have thought we would go through an event as difficult as immigrating again. However, one year the government split our family in half and demanded one of the halves return to Poland. Coming to this country meant separating from everyone we knew in Poland, so when we arrived in this land of promise and were yet again met with sobs and confusion as half of our family was told to go back to our country, we felt as though the universe must have hated us. I recall wishing that we had never come. Over a decade later, I can say that I have no ill feelings toward this country. The opportunities and protections here made up for lost time. In fact, my feelings towards this country now extend so much further than that and I enjoy doing my best to assist the citizens here. Although I volunteered at the customary places—church, school, and food banks—I yearned to find a unique way to help the community using my talents… and my fear of heights. Therefore, when I achieve my private pilot’s license and graduate in aviation technology, I will return to my home airport, the one that helped me discover my dreams, and become a mentor for others. Flight instructing would allow me to continue the legacy of the airport’s teaching program well after the older flight instructors have left. Our community must maintain education for aviation so that younger generations feel as though they have the career options they want as well as the support, whether those people are in this country or not.

If you put together Robin Hood and the creator of Constantinople, Constantine himself, then you will get a guy named Robin Constantine who is not like the models listed above, but who is better in my eyes. This guy, Robin, has captured the mental attentiveness of one young girl who views the covers of his books with a crowbar ready to pry them open. That girl is I. No book has yet to evoke the same sense of satisfaction that reading from Robin Constantine for the first time has. Robin's "The Promise of Amazing" has stopped the blanking I experience mentally when asked what my favorite book is. This novel is the patch that repaired the hole in my boat and stopped it from tipping over and sinking past a point of recovery. Not only did it repair my boat, it offered me a new sail and placed a comfy chair for me to rest on. The plot of this special book goes as follows: A private school teenager struggles internally to meet the high expectations of those in her life including herself. She is severely depressed. Her last reason to live; work, goes terribly wrong and the girl, Wren, decides she can no longer take it. Her life is worthless and she is about to act on it. Before she does something regrettable, a wealthy boy at her job chokes and Wren saves him. Wren thinks nothing of it but the boy adopts the timely decision to change her life into something she would want to keep living. Along the way, this boy changes the direction of his own. This novel could turn a blank statue into a feeling person, and that statue would adore this book as much as I do. It certainly added to my life.