Flying

At Purdue University, I found the perfect opportunity to turn my dream of flying into reality. As the first university in the world to have its own airport (established in 1930), Purdue offers private flight training through Purdue Aviation and even has a student-run flying club, Purdue Pilots Inc., which helps make flying a bit more affordable for students. 

I still remember the first day I got to fly (my dream flight) in 2017, I could hardly believe it wasn’t a dream.

As an international student from a humble background, I chose to use my teaching salary (as an instructor at Purdue) to fund my flying lessons. Balancing finances, flight training, coursework, and research became a constant juggle in my life as a graduate student. There were times when I felt like a failure for not having completed my flying requirements. The pandemic didn’t help either. My written exam expired, and after a 1.5-year break from flying, I had to start over. It was frustrating and disheartening at times, but also a reminder of how important this journey was to me. During that 1.5-year break, my PhD research was all about general aviation accidents. I had gone through thousands of cases and learned just how easily things can go wrong in the air. In retrospect, it was both a blessing and a curse. I was really nervous to get back into flying because I knew all the risks. But strangely, that same knowledge made me feel more prepared, because I knew how seriously to take every part of the process.

During my seven years as a student pilot, I went through nearly 10 different instructors (most were kind and encouraging), switched aircraft from a Piper (low-wing) to a Cessna (high-wing), moved from my home airport KLAF (Lafayette, IN), to KASG (Springdale, AR), and experienced a complete change of scenery, from the corn fields and windmills of the midwest to the green rolling hills of Northwest Arkansas, with the beautiful Beaver Lake nearby. 

On 11 Sep 2024 (Patriot Day), I finally fulfilled my childhood dream of becoming a pilot! I passed with flying colors! Years of perseverance and a "never give up" attitude finally paid off. Flying at Fort Smith (KFSM) alongside F-35s made this achievement even more special. Flying is no easy task; it demands both physical and mental focus. Through this journey, I’ve learned so much, not just about aerodynamics, aviation systems, comms, and multitasking, but also about myself.