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| Encouraging more women and girls to have an interest in aviation... |
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Jackie:
My grandpa was career Air Force, so my dad grew up surrounded by airplanes. He has shared
his passion for anything aviation with both my sister and myself since we were very young. We
grew up hanging out at the local airport watching the planes take off and land. When we were
a little older, we even got to mow the grass runway! It didn’t take long to get addicted to the
scent of jet fuel.
During a high school careers class, we were able to shadow three different jobs for three
weeks each. I was lucky enough to shadow a CFI/charter pilot. Through this experience, I got
to sit in on flight lessons as well as accompany him on a charter flight in a King Air. He let me
hold the controls when we reached cruising altitude. What a feeling!
Dad made sure we got to experience Oshkosh EAA Airventure. This became an annual event
for us. The first few times I just took it all in. The sights. The sounds. The smells (I’m not
referring to the porta-lets!). The airshows were incredible. The warbirds, the specialty planes
that are featured each year, the aerobatic planes with their trails of smoke. The sunburns and
the smiles. This last couple of years, though, I got up the courage to talk to some of the air
show pilots and flight school reps. Michael Wiskus told me that women make better pilots than
men, which was very encouraging to me considering it’s a male dominated field.
I have started working on my private pilot’s license and can’t wait to complete it, which should
be soon. One day when I was doing my pre-flight, the father of a young girl came over to tell
me that his daughter had been watching my every move and was surprised that a girl was
flying. It was a special moment when he thanked me for being a good role model for his
daughter.
Being a role model for younger kids is not new to me. While in high school, I did a lot of
volunteer work with kids. Through the school helping with summer school and choreographing
and teaching dances to the middle school dance team. Through church teaching Bible and
Sunday school and participating in other church sponsored community service projects.
Through Girl Scouts doing countless service projects and earning both the Silver and Gold
Awards. The Gold Award is comparable to the Boy Scout Eagle Award and is achieved by a very
small percentage of scouts. Helping other people without expecting anything in return is an
incredibly rewarding feeling.
Goal setting and achievement is just part of me. This May, I will be graduating from college
with a double major and a minor and achieved this within four years. When I started college,
my career plan was to be a teacher. Then I talked to the people at Oshkosh Airventure and
realized that being a commercial pilot could be a viable career choice for me. I will complete my
four year degree as a formality, but can hardly wait to attend flight school. Just yesterday, I
was invited to ride in an RV 8 with an aerobatic pilot and got to experience several barrel rolls
first hand. Who knows, the next Patty Wagstaff?!!!
If chosen to receive this scholarship, I won’t let you down. Aviation is in my blood. Thank you
for providing this scholarship opportunity for further female interests in aviation for considering
me as a recipient.
My grandpa was career Air Force, so my dad grew up surrounded by airplanes. He has shared
his passion for anything aviation with both my sister and myself since we were very young. We
grew up hanging out at the local airport watching the planes take off and land. When we were
a little older, we even got to mow the grass runway! It didn’t take long to get addicted to the
scent of jet fuel.
During a high school careers class, we were able to shadow three different jobs for three
weeks each. I was lucky enough to shadow a CFI/charter pilot. Through this experience, I got
to sit in on flight lessons as well as accompany him on a charter flight in a King Air. He let me
hold the controls when we reached cruising altitude. What a feeling!
Dad made sure we got to experience Oshkosh EAA Airventure. This became an annual event
for us. The first few times I just took it all in. The sights. The sounds. The smells (I’m not
referring to the porta-lets!). The airshows were incredible. The warbirds, the specialty planes
that are featured each year, the aerobatic planes with their trails of smoke. The sunburns and
the smiles. This last couple of years, though, I got up the courage to talk to some of the air
show pilots and flight school reps. Michael Wiskus told me that women make better pilots than
men, which was very encouraging to me considering it’s a male dominated field.
I have started working on my private pilot’s license and can’t wait to complete it, which should
be soon. One day when I was doing my pre-flight, the father of a young girl came over to tell
me that his daughter had been watching my every move and was surprised that a girl was
flying. It was a special moment when he thanked me for being a good role model for his
daughter.
Being a role model for younger kids is not new to me. While in high school, I did a lot of
volunteer work with kids. Through the school helping with summer school and choreographing
and teaching dances to the middle school dance team. Through church teaching Bible and
Sunday school and participating in other church sponsored community service projects.
Through Girl Scouts doing countless service projects and earning both the Silver and Gold
Awards. The Gold Award is comparable to the Boy Scout Eagle Award and is achieved by a very
small percentage of scouts. Helping other people without expecting anything in return is an
incredibly rewarding feeling.
Goal setting and achievement is just part of me. This May, I will be graduating from college
with a double major and a minor and achieved this within four years. When I started college,
my career plan was to be a teacher. Then I talked to the people at Oshkosh Airventure and
realized that being a commercial pilot could be a viable career choice for me. I will complete my
four year degree as a formality, but can hardly wait to attend flight school. Just yesterday, I
was invited to ride in an RV 8 with an aerobatic pilot and got to experience several barrel rolls
first hand. Who knows, the next Patty Wagstaff?!!!
If chosen to receive this scholarship, I won’t let you down. Aviation is in my blood. Thank you
for providing this scholarship opportunity for further female interests in aviation for considering
me as a recipient.
