I started my aviation journey later in life. In late 2016 I got my student pilot's license and took to the sky with a phenomenal instructor based out of Frasca Field located in Urbana, IL. The love for flying was immediate. Just a few short months later I made my first solo flight on January 7, 2017. I'll never forget the utterly surreal feeling I had knowing that I was the one who was in total control of the plane.

2 years later I completed another major milestone in my aviation career. On January 11, 2019 I achieved my license to keep learning, also known as my Private Pilot's License. The process took a little longer than I had initially anticipated but it was well worth the wait.

Fast forward about 18 months. At this point in my life, I've only flown Cessna's, I've never lived outside of Champaign County in IL, and I spent my entire adult life working at the same job. So making the decision to uproot my life and move to Chicago to take my flight training seriously was scary to say the least. But I decided to take a leap of faith, in the middle of COVID-19 and start training at ATP flight school.

I hopped in an Archer and hit the ground running at ATP starting on my instrument license. I finally felt like I was taking aviation seriously and I was loving it. I was paired up with an incredible instructor which made the transition easier. Learning to fly with your head in the clouds was a different experience, but once it started to click instrument flying is really a great time!

They're really not wasting any time at ATP! Despite the fact that I'm in shorts for my instrument picture and have a coat in my commercial picture, the two are only about 6 weeks apart. I changed instrument approaches in for commercial maneuvers and started working on my commercial license. The process was very rewarding and I'm now a Commercial Single Engine Land Pilot!

I'll be honest, when I first started thinking about pursuing a career in aviation, I wasn't sure that I wanted to be a CFI. But after hard work I'm proud to say that I'm a CFI. After CFI I worked on my Instrument Instructor add-on. I forgot to take a picture with the plane that day, so it's a footnote on this section. ;)

This was my second to last check ride and you would think I'm getting used to them by now. This one really snuck up on me, but I was able to get it done on a beautiful day in early March. Only one more check ride after this one!

And then just like that, I finished flight school. My MEI ride was one of the most stressful but also one of the best checkrides I've taken. I had the opportunity to have the FAA sit in on both the oral and the flight portion and it was a cool experience. Now it's time to take the knowledge I've gained and share this aviation passion with those looking to grow as aviators!

I was pretty thrilled to accept a full time flight instructing position with the Institute of Aviation at Parkland College. This is the old U of I flight program, so I packed up all my stuff and moved back to Champaign to teach the next generation of pilots. I'm excited to be working with a great group of instructors as I build my 1500 hours!

After spending a year instructing, I had an amazing opportunity to interview at The Flightstar Corporation. Flightstar is located right next to the Institute of Aviation where I was teaching, it's the place where instructors would run and grab a cup of coffee to start our day. Through the interview process I was excited at the prospect of flying a charter jet. Once they sent me the job offer, I finished my last semester of full time instructing and packed my bag for Dallas. I spent a little over two weeks in Dallas learning how to fly the Learjet 45 and walked away with a type rating and another checkride under my belt! Now the adventure continues flying across the country in the Lear.