I remember standing in awe watching as my grandfather tuned his stereo to perfection, feeling the deep bass booming through my chest as Spanish bull dancing music and later a Beethoven symphony flowed through his speakers. As I soaked in my newfound wonder, my grandfather gently held my hands and began to wave them in the air teaching me to conduct. He turned to me as we danced and conducted and said, “good musicians not only know how to play their instrument, but they also know how to teach and conduct their music. Music is meant to be interpreted, not followed.” Those words never left me, and shortly thereafter I began to learn the piano, which has now brought me to places like Carnegie Hall to perform and Friends of Children With Special Needs to give back to my community after 12 years of practice.
Much like music, aviation has been a constant obsession of mine, as I aspire to be a commercial airline pilot. At age five, I was given the opportunity to experience flight from San Francisco to Seattle. I vividly remember waiting in San Francisco’s terminal three watching as our Airbus A320 glided into the gate. I stared at its funnel-shaped engines, majestic white wings, and spotless tail glowing in a soft orange hue as the rising sun peeked over the bustling terminal.
As we boarded the plane, the first officer invited me into the cockpit. I gazed at the parade of multicolored buttons and switches that popped out of the instrument panel as he explained their functions. Finally, I placed my hand on the side stick and asked, “Captain, how did you become a pilot?” From that moment I knew I wanted to take flight as a commercial airline pilot.
Fast forward to the fall of 2022, I was nominated as a finalist for a local flight scholarship that would take me from zero flying hours to a private pilot’s license in just one summer. I could not believe that such an opportunity was in front of me. I could finally begin my journey to the cockpit, and I was thrilled! I walked in for the interview fresh from taking my PSAT, my junior year of high school, a little tired, but nevertheless excited. I had memorized an entire packet of information and prepared for the interview in every way possible. I breezed through much of the interview with confidence and authenticity, though extremely tired, and sometimes not as coherent as I would have liked. Still, I was extremely confident I would be selected as one of the recipients. However, a few days later I was devastated when I heard I had not made it past the final rounds. Though devastated because I didn’t know if I would ever receive such an opportunity again, I vowed to continue my pursuit of flight, to find another opportunity, because I knew I wouldn’t not let one moment of adversity bar me from my dreams. Instead I reached out to the committee of scholarship I did not receive to seek additional scholarship opportunities and research tips. I had to keep purist my dream, and this time with even more ambition. My reasoning was simple: Every aspiring pilot faces failure at some point along their journey, I was lucky to face such adversity so early on. It would prepare me for the journey ahead, and ultimately make me a better aviator. Thus in late 2022, when I applied for the Flying Musicians Association Scholarship, following my promise to myself, I was eager to hear back, eager for another opportunity, and the opportunity came.
In May of 2023 almost a year later, I received the 2023 Flying Musicians Association Solo Scholarship, after a year of searching for any opportunity possible. It was a perfect fit. It encompassed both my passions of aviation and music.
Since receiving the FMA 2023 Solo Scholarship I have begun flight training at Aerodynamic Aviation at Reid Hillview Airport in San Jose, California with the help of my wonderful CFI Cameron Kissler, and the help of everyone at Aerodynamic and FMA. Aerodynamic aviation is the area’s oldest flight school having provided excellent training services for almost 100 years since Reid Hillview AIrport (KHRV/RHV’s) inception in 1937. I currently fly in a Cessna 150M, allowing me to truly master stick and rudder flying. Aerodynamic has one of the most affordable CFI and aircraft rates along with an excellent community! I have 5.5 hours, and am actively working towards soloing, having completed my first stage of flight training in which I practiced maneuvers such as slow flight, powered on and off stalls, ground reference maneuvers, and so much more.
I have also been lucky enough to work as a ramp agent for Delta Air Lines over the summer of 2023, after applying for every airport job possible with the hope that any airline would offer me a chance. My previous adversity with my local scholarship taught me to seize every opportunity possible and thus I aggressively applied for every open position. To my surprise, I landed a job with the prestigious Delta Air Lines. As a ramp agent for Delta I have loaded and unloaded bags, disconnected and connected towbars and steering pins, serviced beautiful aircraft ranging from the A220 and A320 to the 737 and E175, and I have interacted with numerous wonderful Delta pilots and flight attendants who all gave me guidance towards my goal of being a commercial airline pilot.
Reflecting on my journey thus far, without the help of the Flying Musicians Association and its extremely supportive community of unique like minded musically talented aviators, my dreams of flying for the airlines would have seemed so much more distant. But through combined efforts of FMA and Aerodynamic Aviation, I have been able to jumpstart my dreams. If there’s anything I can take away from my journey thus far besides the fact that flying is mesmerizingly amazing, it’s that when you have a dream you must pursue it relentlessly, treating adversity as a steppingstone to success, and a challenge which you embrace without hesitation, rather than an obstacle. Without overcoming my early adversity, I would have not been lucky enough to receive the FMA 2023 solo scholarship, work as an 18-year-old ramp agent for Delta Air Lines or interact with the wonderful group of people I have met at Aerodynamic, Delta, and of course the Flying Musicians Association.
