Brittany, A Dreams Take Flight Scholarship Winner!

This is Brittany's essay from her application. As an awardee of this scholarship, she has agreed to send us updates on her flight training, which will be posted here when they are received.

I believe I am valid candidate for the Rick Dahl Memorial Scholarship because I am a worthy and deserving student that will benefit greatly from this award. I’m truly committed to being a successful student and making good use of the scholarship funding to further my life-long goal of becoming a pilot.

I can proudly say that I have always wanted to be a pilot. As a young girl, I frequently traveled by plane to visit with my Dad in Boston and honestly, I fell in love with flying after a young Delta co-pilot allowed me to tour the cockpit and explore his world, mid-flight!

I have had the amazing opportunity to begin to learn to fly via the Prosser Aviation Program. In the fall, I passed my exam with a solid score of 92% and have started working to accumulate my required flying hours.

I am nearing high school graduation and I plan to finish my senior year with all A's for my final semester. Additionally, I am the varsity captain of my high school cheer squad and am very involved in my community with numerous weekly obligations. I believe I have mastered the art of hard work, multi-tasking and time management. I say this because in addition to the above, I am currently working 15 hours a week at our YMCA (I am a lifeguard and childcare worker) and am saving every dollar that I can to use for additional flight time. My goal is to enter ISU with no less than 20 hours.

I will continue in my formal education in the August as I enter ISU. I plan to double major in Professional Aviation Flight Technology and Aviation Management. As soon as possible, I intend to earn my Flight Instructor designation to help finance my final years of school. Upon graduation, I hope to get a job as a pilot and start building my flight hours to work toward my ultimate goal. My dream job is to be a UPS Pilot, just like my mentor, Captain Jay McKiever. I aspire to travel the world and experience new cultures.

Just as importantly, I also plan to continue to give back to the community by mentoring other young women who are interested in flying and sharing my experiences and learnings. I believe becoming involved with Girls With Wings would be a great opportunity for me and I’ve recently joined Women in Aviation International, an organization dedicated to the advancement of females in the Aviation Industry. I’ve also become a member of The Ninety-Nines, an international organization for women pilots. I am looking forward to working with all these inspiring women, especially Girls With Wings, learning from their sharings, participating in their activities and ultimately working my way through these ranks so that someday I too can help other women in this industry. Through these opportunities and more, I will also work to find creative ways to help other aspiring flight students find a way to fly so that they too can recognize their own dreams.

As I come from a humble household with 4 other children, my family cannot afford to provide financial assistance for college. My Mother is disabled and my step Father works two jobs to support us all. Therefore, I am completely dependent upon grants, scholarships, loans and financial aid to provide funding for this very expensive dual degree program. It is my hope to be considered for the Rick Dahl Memorial Scholarship so that I can better focus on my education and spend a little less time worrying about funding. I truly appreciate your consideration.

The Girls With Wings 2014 Scholarship Program includes the Dreams Take Flight Scholarship, designed to introduce the world of aviation to someone who would benefit from experiencing the joy of flight. This scholarship is intended to fund introductory flight training to encourage achievement of a stated goal, whether in aviation or in another field of study. There is no prerequisite flight training required for this scholarship, just enthusiasm and the desire to learn. The Dreams Take Flight Scholarship is an award of $500.00, funded by the generous donations from supporters of Girls With Wings, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.