Advocacy

Some people naturally have the confidence that they can do anything. As for me, even though I grew up hearing that I could do anything if I set my mind to it, somehow I didn’t develop the quality of confidence. Throughout life we each must build our own confidence after struggling to overcome obstacles. Earning my private pilot certificate served as one of the greatest confidence building activities in my life. For most of my life, I have dreamed of becoming a pilot; however, beginning to take lessons introduced doubt in my mind as to whether or not I could actually accomplish this goal. With each small success of performing a smooth takeoff, or executing the emergency checklist in the proper manner, I slowly gained the confidence that I could pass the exam. There was a constant fight to keep my self-esteem up, as the challenges got more demanding, but the reward at the end was the feeling that if I could prove to an FAA examiner that I could safely pilot an aircraft, then I could do anything.