Classroom In the Sky by Anthony

Classroom In the Sky by Anthony - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

Every young student has at some point pondered the possibility that perhaps they would perform more supremely in their professor’s position. While this is an easy assertion for me to make when the teacher in question seems less than adequate, it is a more pleasing thought when it is in a subject area that I have a passion for as well as a drive to learn more about. As it so happens, the subject area that I ponder the most on may well be a good option for me as a career fallback if I have the opportunity to earn the appropriate certification. This area of study is flight instruction.
My passion for aviation has grown exponentially over the past four years, beginning when I first entered the Central Florida Aerospace Academy as a freshman. Being in that environment, on the property of an airport that hosts the country’s second largest airshow, surely seeded that interest in me. The campus, however, was only a portion of what I needed as an aspiring aviator. My desire was truly cultivated in the form of the James C. Ray flight scholarship. The scholarship is technically available to all students in the county, but the Aerospace Academy students especially take advantage of the opportunity it provides for students to become pilots, and very affordably. I began my flight training just before the start of this school year, and have so far accumulated roughly ten flight hours and am nearly ready to take on my first solo flight. The whole experience has been life changing for me; and given me a new perspective of the world.
However, to say that the school’s placement and the scholarship program were the only factors in my decision to pursue aviation, as a student and possibly an instructor, would be a dishonest statement. Perhaps the most important factor in my decision was the Lakeland Aeroclub. The clubs purpose is to provide students a platform to join the aviation community; a task that could seem unachievable on one’s own. The most basic description of the club is a place where students meet and restore aircraft to an airworthy condition, and then fly them at a discounted rate. While this is all good and well, the club does so much more for me and my fellow students. The senior members are very helpful and supportive towards any issue you can bring up about pursuing a future in aviation; mainly because of the amount of experience they have in the industry and community. All of these factors would do plenty for me to go pursue my pilot’s license, but they took the club a step further by making it a flight school for club members. This is where my interest in flight instruction arose, because this means that I can get my pilot’s license and instructor rating, and then return to the Aeroclub as a flight instructor. This is where I find myself now, in a position to give future students the life changing opportunities that I find myself with today.