As I begin my last semester at the University of Missouri- St. Louis, I have many thoughts circling my mind. While I love everything and anything finance and economics related, it has never been my passion to work a traditional 9-5 job in a cubical. I have always thought about the future and have always lived by the motto, "Do what makes you happy" and flying airplanes makes me happy. I remember people asking me the famous question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and me not being able to confidently answer the question, but now my answer is very clear - I want to be a commercial pilot for United Airlines. I knew I had an interest in aviation, but this interest has remained in the back of my head until this year. Early this year, I began doing extensive research on the requirements needed to become a commercial pilot and began looking at flight schools in my area. Being in the location that I'm in, there aren't many options when it comes to flight training programs, so I decided to expand my search outside of my home state. On June 19th, I took my discovery flight, and I have been obsessed ever since. I bought the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge as well as the Airplane Flying Handbook and I have been reading a little bit every night just to familiarize myself with the basics. I have already passed my First Class medical certificate as well. The last week of June, my family and I visited Phoenix, Arizona and I made it a mission to visit United Aviate Academy located in Goodyear, Arizona. United Aviate Academy is my dream school, and after my visit to the campus, I'm certain that that is the school I will be attending despite the school being very selective with its applicants. I'm confident I have the necessary requirements to be selected to the program, and I will be applying as soon as the applications open. Being a woman especially an African American woman entering the field of aviation is something that won't be easy, which is why I chose a flight training program that has intentions of including people of color and an airline that has a mission of hiring a more diverse pool of pilots. I want to be the pilot who inspires other young girls to get into aviation and show them that anything is possible. If I was selected to receive this scholarship, it would go towards the cost of training at United Aviate Academy. After progressing through the program, I hope to be hired by the Academy as a CFI and work towards building up my 1,500 hours of flying time. I feel like I've been too comfortable with myself and I know it's not ok to stay comfortable. It's time for me to step out of my comfort zone and do what I've been wanting to do- pursue my dream of being a commercial airline pilot.

As I begin my last semester at the University of Missouri- St. Louis, I have many thoughts circling my mind. While I love everything and anything finance and economics related, it has never been my passion to work a traditional 9-5 job in a cubical. I have always thought about the future and have always lived by the motto, "Do what makes you happy" and flying airplanes makes me happy. I remember people asking me the famous question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and me not being able to confidently answer the question, but now my answer is very clear - I want to be a commercial pilot for United Airlines. I knew I had an interest in aviation, but this interest has remained in the back of my head until this year. Early this year, I began doing extensive research on the requirements needed to become a commercial pilot and began looking at flight schools in my area. Being in the location that I'm in, there aren't many options when it comes to flight training programs, so I decided to expand my search outside of my home state. On June 19th, I took my discovery flight, and I have been obsessed ever since. I bought the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge as well as the Airplane Flying Handbook and I have been reading a little bit every night just to familiarize myself with the basics. I have already passed my First Class medical certificate as well. The last week of June, my family and I visited Phoenix, Arizona and I made it a mission to visit United Aviate Academy located in Goodyear, Arizona. United Aviate Academy is my dream school, and after my visit to the campus, I'm certain that that is the school I will be attending despite the school being very selective with its applicants. I'm confident I have the necessary requirements to be selected to the program, and I will be applying as soon as the applications open. Being a woman especially an African American woman entering the field of aviation is something that won't be easy, which is why I chose a flight training program that has intentions of including people of color and an airline that has a mission of hiring a more diverse pool of pilots. I want to be the pilot who inspires other young girls to get into aviation and show them that anything is possible. If I was selected to receive this scholarship, it would go towards the cost of training at United Aviate Academy. After progressing through the program, I hope to be hired by the Academy as a CFI and work towards building up my 1,500 hours of flying time. I feel like I've been too comfortable with myself and I know it's not ok to stay comfortable. It's time for me to step out of my comfort zone and do what I've been wanting to do- pursue my dream of being a commercial airline pilot.