Private Pilot to Flight Instructor
By Wella Jay
Dear Grant and Scholarship donors, flight instructors, mentors, family and friends. I am writing to you today with a heart full of gratitude. Your collective mentorship, support, financial backing, cheerleading, words of wisdom, and patience have been the pillars of my journey over the past four years as I’ve pursued my goal of becoming a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI). I cannot thank you enough for the integral contributions that led to this moment.
When I began this journey, I was blissfully unaware of the time, finances, and emotional roller-coaster that would come with pursuing an aviation career in Alaska. All of you have, in one way or another, provided support and helped me get one step closer to my dream of one day flying for the National Park Service. I realize now that aviation is never a solo pursuit; it truly takes a village to “make a pilot”! When I passed my CFI check-ride on August 4th and received my formal job offer to work as a flight instructor at Land and Sea Aviation (my home flight school) earlier this week, I thought back to all of you who helped me on this 4-year journey. My greatest thanks go to my husband, Justin, without whom none of this would have been possible and who has “held down the fort,” being the breadwinner and supporter of our small family as I’ve pursued my aviation and science-related dreams. A big “thank you” goes out to my parents, who were the initial inspiration for my aviation pursuits (taking me to airports as a child, booking vacation homes that “just happened” to be located right next to one of the most prolific Fighter jet Airstrips in Europe, etc.) and later helping me pass the last financial hurdle I faced to tie the bow on this CFI check-ride; not everyone has the opportunity to receive so much monetary and emotional support; I realize how lucky I am. To all the scholarship donors and grant providers; I have, in total, received over $55k in funding from you to support these ratings. Your financial support has been crucial in making my dream a reality, and I am deeply grateful for it. None of this would have been possible without you! Finally, a big “thank you” goes out to Carol Zerbe, the first person to tell me about aviation scholarships, thus opening this door to the aviation world that would otherwise not have existed.
While there is no way for me to repay your kindness, I want you to know that I will continue to take any opportunity I get to “pay it forward.” Whether that be through hosting free ground school classes, hosting “scholarship” application seminars at our local aviation chapters, or, this year, by starting my own Aviation Support Group, “Sisters of the Sky,” which has and will continue to create new scholarship opportunities for aspiring female pilots in Alaska.
In a beautiful “full-circle universe moment,” my parents (who live in Switzerland) visited Alaska the week I took my CFI checkride. As a result, my Dad, who, as many of you have read in my scholarship essays, played a big part in my wanting to pursue this flight instructor certificate, became my first “student” postcheckride. We worked on the four fundamentals of flight, reading cloud patterns, and went on a sightseeing flight across the Knik Glacier with him at the controls for most of it; I couldn’t have asked for a better “checkride completion” gift or student!
I still cannot believe that flying airplanes across the vast wilderness of Alaska is now officially my job. I am so grateful for this privilege and know just how lucky I am. Making it this far would not have been possible without your support; thank you so much for all your help!
Calm winds and blue skies,
Wella Marie
