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Elisabeth:
In 2005, I met a young woman named Amalie, our guest speaker at the Phi Theta Kappa
California/Nevada Regional Leadership Conference. Amalie is from Sri Lanka and completed her
associate degree here in the United States. Right after she finished her associate degree,
there was a tsunami that hit Sri Lanka on the southeast coast. Even though she was a
transfer student, she was able to fundraise enough money to help build a new school,
Bridge2Peace, for a community that had no government funding for a new school. This school
has been in operation for two years. However, they lack many things that every school needs.
With a B.A. in International Studies, I felt inspired to return to college to learn more about how
I can help teach aviation here in the United States and internationally.
Amalie was so inspirational that she gave me the incentive to be part of Bridge2Peace. In
2006, I found out that Bridge2Peace would accept students for volunteer teaching positions
for summer, 2007. I applied and soon after received an acceptance letter. However, due to
multiple bombings in April and May, 2007, the Colombo International Airport flights were
canceled.
In July 2007, the capital of Sri Lank, Colombo, was free of terrorists with no threats of
bombing. Everything has been cleared for me to teach this coming summer, 2008 in
Lunugamvihara, Sri Lanka. Bernadine, the director of Bridge2Peace’s, learned that my majors
are in Aviation and Medicine, she was happy to hear of what plans I would have for the
students. Besides bringing donated first aid kits for each classroom, I have set up information
books on basic aviation for the students. Also, I have printed up coloring pages from the Girls
With Wings web site for the girls. And the most exciting part of the volunteer teaching position
is that I made appointments for student field trips to the Hambantota International Airport, Sri
Lanka’s second international airport located in Weerawilla, Hambantota, Sri Lanka (2007).
When the director of a small Montessori school in Colombo, LPF Academy, found out that I was
taking students on an aviation field trip on the eastern side of their country, they asked if I
could take their students for a field trip to the airport closest to their school. There are three
airports near the school: one private, the Sri Lanka Air Force, and the Colombo International
Airport. I am motivated to use the Girls With Wings Flight Training Scholarship to prepare me to
be refreshed in flying before I leave for Sri Lanka. I will have over 100 students from ages 3
years old to 8 years old to learn about the dynamics of aviation. I pray that I will be able to
achieve a pilot’s license before May 2008 and take at least one student for a flight. This will not
be possible without great funding, such as the Girls With Wings Flight Training Scholarship.
In 1921, Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to become an airplane pilot, stated,
“I refuse to take no for an answer.” Even though there was a “No” for the Phi Theta Kappa
honor students to give free education at Bridge2Peace this past summer, it will happen soon:
summer, 2008. This will exemplify the relationships of women and girls in the modern giant of
aviation.
Aviation is the dynamics of freedom that provides confidence for the dynamics of one’s self. I
look forward to taking the opportunity to learn more about aviation while using my leadership
qualities to help younger students learn about aviation also. These students will soon see
their country and the world from a different perspective. I look forward to this experience with
the needed assistance from Girls With Wings.
In 2005, I met a young woman named Amalie, our guest speaker at the Phi Theta Kappa
California/Nevada Regional Leadership Conference. Amalie is from Sri Lanka and completed her
associate degree here in the United States. Right after she finished her associate degree,
there was a tsunami that hit Sri Lanka on the southeast coast. Even though she was a
transfer student, she was able to fundraise enough money to help build a new school,
Bridge2Peace, for a community that had no government funding for a new school. This school
has been in operation for two years. However, they lack many things that every school needs.
With a B.A. in International Studies, I felt inspired to return to college to learn more about how
I can help teach aviation here in the United States and internationally.
Amalie was so inspirational that she gave me the incentive to be part of Bridge2Peace. In
2006, I found out that Bridge2Peace would accept students for volunteer teaching positions
for summer, 2007. I applied and soon after received an acceptance letter. However, due to
multiple bombings in April and May, 2007, the Colombo International Airport flights were
canceled.
In July 2007, the capital of Sri Lank, Colombo, was free of terrorists with no threats of
bombing. Everything has been cleared for me to teach this coming summer, 2008 in
Lunugamvihara, Sri Lanka. Bernadine, the director of Bridge2Peace’s, learned that my majors
are in Aviation and Medicine, she was happy to hear of what plans I would have for the
students. Besides bringing donated first aid kits for each classroom, I have set up information
books on basic aviation for the students. Also, I have printed up coloring pages from the Girls
With Wings web site for the girls. And the most exciting part of the volunteer teaching position
is that I made appointments for student field trips to the Hambantota International Airport, Sri
Lanka’s second international airport located in Weerawilla, Hambantota, Sri Lanka (2007).
When the director of a small Montessori school in Colombo, LPF Academy, found out that I was
taking students on an aviation field trip on the eastern side of their country, they asked if I
could take their students for a field trip to the airport closest to their school. There are three
airports near the school: one private, the Sri Lanka Air Force, and the Colombo International
Airport. I am motivated to use the Girls With Wings Flight Training Scholarship to prepare me to
be refreshed in flying before I leave for Sri Lanka. I will have over 100 students from ages 3
years old to 8 years old to learn about the dynamics of aviation. I pray that I will be able to
achieve a pilot’s license before May 2008 and take at least one student for a flight. This will not
be possible without great funding, such as the Girls With Wings Flight Training Scholarship.
In 1921, Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to become an airplane pilot, stated,
“I refuse to take no for an answer.” Even though there was a “No” for the Phi Theta Kappa
honor students to give free education at Bridge2Peace this past summer, it will happen soon:
summer, 2008. This will exemplify the relationships of women and girls in the modern giant of
aviation.
Aviation is the dynamics of freedom that provides confidence for the dynamics of one’s self. I
look forward to taking the opportunity to learn more about aviation while using my leadership
qualities to help younger students learn about aviation also. These students will soon see
their country and the world from a different perspective. I look forward to this experience with
the needed assistance from Girls With Wings.
