Flying has had a big impact on my life and there are two main things it’s given me: connection and freedom. These may seem pretty opposite, but I don’t believe they are. Let me explain: My earliest memories of flying are from before I was in first-grade. In fact by that time, I’d already accumulated about 23,000 nautical miles as a passenger between Beijing, China and Chicago, Illinois. Since then, I’ve added another 60,000 miles as a passenger and my log book has more than 15 of my own flight hours. You see, I’ve grown up between my parents’ two cultures in China and now the USA and spent many hours watching planes while waiting at airports. Since I was in preschool, I said I wanted to be a pilot, and while my parents supported me, they didn’t push the idea because they wanted me to explore many hobbies and interests. I love building with Legos, I swam for more than ten years, I love seeing how engines work, but I always come back to being a pilot. And, for a fun story on how these hobbies relate to connection, when I was 11, I built a three-foot-long aircraft carrier of Lego, equipped with an engine, and took it to swim practice to see how it worked. Flying has helped connect me to my family on either side of the Pacific. I look forward to being a commercial pilot so it’s easier for me to stay connected to all of my extended family as we grow and move around the world with our own hopes and dreams for an amazing life. I look forward to when I can rent a plane and fly to see my cousins a few states over and I can’t wait to fly my parents for the first time. When I was 7, I got to go in a small Cessna plane for the first time and I remember the feeling of excitement soaring over towns, fields, and lakes. But I never felt so free and exhilarated as I did on my first solo flight last summer. It was an amazing experience watching the world become smaller and smaller beneath me. I’m hopeful that, with hard work and dedication, flying professionally will help me attain a basic level of financial freedom. This isn’t something I will take for granted; I’ve been working about 10-12 hours a week for more than three years to save for flight training. This is just the start — I will need many times what I have now, but I have a plan. Scholarships like this one will give me a boost, both financially and mentally, because it’s so great to know others believe in and support me. My parents sacrifice time and money to take me to airshows, Young Eagles flights, and now EAA chapter meetings. I know pilots often share about how flying gives them time freedom with unconventional work hours. This will be great for allowing me time for hobbies, friends and family. I’ll be able to take a 10-day vacation to photograph planes at AirVenture, take a week to go to a friend's wedding, and enjoy holidays with my parents and sister. So the many freedoms that flying gives me will result in more connection with the people who mean the most to me. And for that, I’m truly grateful.