I signed up for my piloting lessons about five months ago and I was very impatient to start learning. I was anxious at the idea that one of my teenage dreams was starting to fulfill by taking these classes.
I bought many books on how to be a pilot and gathered all the information I could get my hands on… I would say that I went a bit crazy with such material. Kindle made some bucks with my madness.
See, I remember planning my professional life as a teenager and thinking to get into the Airforce. My school counselor spoke to me that the recruiter for the Navy (not the Airforce) was coming to the school and that he wanted to talk to me; see I was even recommended. The recruiter was very enthusiastic talking me into all the Navy’s advantages. But I told him that I was already convinced even before he started talking, and I remember he laughed.
The following week he picked me up at school and drove me into one of the Navy’s offices in Massachusetts. I was ready to serve and to flight, or at least that’s what I remember.
The recruiter showed me the aviation possibilities in the Navy and my excitement was just getting higher. I had to pass some IQ exams, computer exams etc… and eventually when all those where done, I had to pass my physical exam… and from there it went all down. I got so depressed and I felt that my world wasn’t going to be the same anymore.
My recruiter felt bad for me -or pity maybe- and got me an interview with Harvard University –that’s another story, let’s keep it simple-. And that was it, I couldn’t be a pilot anymore; my dream was vanished.
Back in the days I had a regular based diet. Now I’ve been vegan for the last four years and I found out that the reason I couldn’t be a pilot is not in my body anymore and it completely disappeared almost six months after I became vegan. “Nature rewards” as my vegan besty Vincent Santamaria would say.
So imagine my enthusiasm to finally being able to fly!
So first day of theory classes was here; I arrived there after an event from Lexus in which I was participating in a workshop for target costumer research, I can’t lie that it was fun to tell the same things to five different groups all the day. Kind of a unique educational experience; and the fellowship was amazing. Therefore my energy was at the top; super good experience during the day and growing excitement for the evening class…
I got there and the classroom was full of men in between ages 40s and 50s. Out of 25 students, only five of us were women… but I’m kind of used to being the only girl since I started racing cars in my wild years (ha! 😉 .
The Professor started with a PowerPoint presentation that was the same as the syllabus we had and he began. To my surprise I was already half away of the course and all I saw were numbers and graphics! –“Aeronautical Engineering? You gotta be kidding me!”- Don’t take me wrong; I have specializations in Macroeconomics and Managerial economics in which numbers are a huge part of it; but apart from those; I’ve honestly have been avoiding arithmetic all my life! Sort of a contradiction maybe; I’m good with budgeting and organization analysis; as well as with physics (I love physics, specially seismology) and chemistry but Math, in its core; it’s never been my thing; and now I have it in the first day of my Dream Field!
I kind of forgot of my great day; I almost forgot I was there to fulfill a dream… I was blank. My mind went off; I didn’t know what to think and what to do with all the equations.
So there I was… looking at the emptiness-I mean looking at the clock- waiting for the time to pass so I could go home, cry and fall sleep.
LIDIA AVILES 