Soaring With Passion by Logan

Soaring With Passion by Logan - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

Legos and model planes are interesting to most children and these notable childhood figurines started off as just that, figurines. As my collection was growing, so was my curiosity as to how exactly these planes, helicopters, and other aircraft worked. I wanted to know the root of the movement, which led to me researching, dissecting, and truly understanding these magnificent products. After talking to my mom about my love for all aircraft, she told me how in her younger days, she used to fly as a flight nurse on an emergency helicopter. I was so infatuated with the idea of being able to fly, I begged for so long to be able to fly like she did. Luckily, she had friends who were still pilots, and I was told that I could get to fly with one of them when they had to move the helicopter to another hangar.
The flight was purely magical to say the least. Being able to fly in the cockpit with the pilot at night, seeing the world from above, looking at different cities and lights, hearing the communication that had to happen to be able to take off and land; it was all enchanting. If my love for flying and aircraft wasn’t strong enough before, it quite literally soared after this flight.
A few months later, I went on my first plane. This is where I truly fell in love with flying. The adrenaline rush when taking off, the overhead speakers, being able to see the clouds, feeling so free; all of it was perfect. I knew from then on that planes were something I wanted to pursue, however I didn’t know in what fashion. I was unsure whether this would be a leisure activity for researching and dreaming, or if this could potentially be a career, getting paid to pursue what I love.
After another exciting plane ride to Washington D.C., my mom and I went to visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, which solidified my obsession and determination to work with flight and planes. Seeing their progression through history made me want to create history with planes, it made me want to change the normal ideas surrounding planes and engineers; that would be pursuing the very male-dominant field of Aerospace Engineering. After learning more about the engineers, I found that this was the ideal job for me. Through research, lots of calculations, and hard work, I would be the ones that made the planes work. My want to learn about the job continued, and I decided that working on Navy jets was the goal. Living about 2 hours from a base that holds many air shows, I started going to see the “dream jets” in action. Hearing, feeling, and seeing these miraculously fast creations brought such an excitement out from within me, and I knew this is what I needed to pursue.
Now, being accepted into a school that lets me pursue my passion, I plan to work hard and create the unthinkable. Through many model planes, flights, research hours, and learning opportunities, I have decided and determined what my heart and head desire to pursue. While there were many personal experiences that led to my dream major, they all equally benefited and paved the way for me to feel brave enough to pursue the male-dominated field of Aerospace Engineering as a female. Nothing will get in between me and my passion for planes, and I am sure of that.