In high school I took the opportunity to learn how to fly through the county BOCES program. This was certainly a shock to my art teacher at the time. I was supposed to be her next celebrated artist. Every day for two years after 5th period we would get on a bus that drove us to one of the smaller local airports. It started out as a personal plot to have a better feeling for a pilots point of view of flying. The plan was to go to college for aerospace engineering but have a better understanding than an engineer that keeps their feet on the ground.
The first year there were upwards of fifty students from schools all throughout the county. Many of them, at times myself included, were just there to get out of other high school classes. Flying planes would just be “fun”. Most of them would slack off and not study, wasting this free opportunity. To some it was “too hard” while others just did not care. One instructor told us once that he had been taking a class at the same time. Much like for my peers it wasn’t going so well for him either, he wasn’t keeping his end of the bargain. He knew better than to continue punishing himself and his instructor. He dropped the class. I remember our class being surprised he would, or even could do such a thing. I believe it was the truth, but said to impress a point on us. Study and put in the effort needed, or don’t waste time and effort.
Out of the fifty that started, I was one of the 13 students to pass the FAA written exam. At the end of the 1st year we were invited to continue on, to make a real push for our pilot licenses. I still hear from many of the other 12 on occasion… we follow each other on whatever flavor the “social media” of the day is, maybe a random text message now and again. When I think back to that time it is never, never to my “regular” high school, but always to that program at the airport. They are a group of people I would never have met otherwise. A group I didn’t necessarily have enough in common with all of them to be friends with were it not for flying planes. While many of us rarely ever flew after high school ended, we have that shared experience.
I am writing this now many years later while sitting in a class required for my PhD program. Things are not going so well for me. I could use all the excuses, most of which are based in fact, but excuses all the same. I am just wasting time and effort, mine and the instructors. As I finish writing I will walk out of class and finally move on.