All across the country each year, Southwest Airlines Pilots volunteer their time to participate in the Southwest Airlines Adopt-a-Pilot Program. The program educates fifth-grade students through aviation-themed activities related to science, geography, math, writing, and other core subjects. Nine years ago, I was one of those students sitting in the classroom. At that age, I didn’t have a clue of what or where I would be in the future. However, the Adopt-a-Pilot Program inspired me with a dream to someday become a commercial airline pilot.
In 2005, my class at Palos East Elementary School in Palos Heights, Illinois, was chosen to participate in the Adopt-a-Pilot Program. Captain Wudtke came to speak in my classroom, and he not only educated us in aviation, he also taught us life lessons. We were taught how it takes more than just a Pilot to make a commercial airplane fly—it takes a whole operation consisting of educated, hardworking individuals.
The program helped spark our interest in what we were learning in school and motivated us to work hard towards our desired careers—whatever they might be. I vividly remember being shown the phonetic alphabet for the first time, and knowing then that I wanted my future job to somehow relate to aviation. We were taught that through dedication we could excel and achieve our own goals. Captain Wudtke motivated me to succeed, and the Adopt-a-Pilot Program emphasized for me that through commitment, dreams are made possible.
The summer after fifth grade, my father brought me up to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and I got to take control of an airplane for the first time. It was surreal, applying what I had just learned from the Adopt-a-Pilot Program to an actual flying experience. Opportunities like this, and the lessons I learned from Adopt-a-Pilot, led me to pursue a career in aviation. I began working on my private pilot license my senior year of high school.
I am currently a sophomore at Purdue University studying aviation. I have my commercial pilot certificate and hold an instrument rating. This summer I will work toward getting my CFI (certified flight instructing certificate). I look forward to teaching students how to fly, and plan on applying what Captain Wudtke taught me to my own students. The Adopt-a-Pilot Program is designed to inspire students and help them define, articulate, and plan for future success. It provided me with a dream, and I have the program to thank for impacting my decision to choose aviation as a career.
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