Like most people that pursue a career in aviation, my love for airplanes started from a very young age. Before I could even talk I would look up at the sky and point out any airplane that would fly across the sky. Now, unlike most people that are passionate about aviation, I never once considered becoming a pilot. As a person who has no family members or even friends that fly, becoming a pilot did not seem like a realistic or achievable goal. So like any teenager fresh out of high school with no idea what I wanted to do with my life, I went to college and got a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. 

Around my Junior year of college is when I realized that I wanted nothing to do with what I was studying but still continued my education and graduated in 2023. After researching multiple different career paths I could take with my degree, I saw a listing for a King Air position with the forest service and thought “How cool would that be?” A few months later, I went up on a discovery flight with a family friend who had his private pilot’s license and could not imagine myself doing anything other than flying.

After graduating I took some time to work hard and save up in order for me to be able to dedicate most of my time to aviation. I started my flight training in March of 2024 at Riverside Flight Academy and was able to finish my Private, Instrument, and Commercial ratings in a little over a year. I am now a CFI/CFII/MEI at Riverside Flight Academy and have been flying for about two and a half years and have loved every second of it. Choosing aviation was the best decision I could have made for myself and would encourage anyone to take that Discovery flight that could change your life.