‘Tis the season for holiday miracles. Now, a miracle may be defined as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.”
This year, we bring to you a story that by definition, is not miraculous in any way. The story is one of perseverance, dedication, and an unwavering believe in oneself. Several years ago, a women came into our PVD location. She took an intro flight and signed on for lessons. Budgetary considerations sometimes stretched her training out longer than she would have preferred. Still, her love for flying was pure. When a managerial position became available at our PVD office, she submitted her resume without hesitation. She joined our team and quickly proved herself a natural. Splitting her time between PVD and OWD, she was a natural at talking and being a friendly voice to every single person that came in our doors. When asked about any one student, she could rattle off details about their motivations, their flight training, their profession and their aviation hopes and dreams. She once confessed, almost with an air of embarrassment, how much she loved being engaged with aviation on a day-to-day basis.
In addition to the normal pressure of wanting to excel in her flying, she was doing so with every single person, across our two locations knowing that she was working on it. “So, when are you going to be done?” “How many hours do you have?” “When is your checkride.” As welcome as the questions may be, repeating “not yet” or “I’m working on it” wears you down. Every time you answer a question like that, it can feel like an affirmation of an unhappy truth, that you’re not a pilot. Not yet. When that is all you want in the world, that can be a painful admittance.
While this may be coming during the holiday season, it is no miracle. Tori Kennedy worked and worked and worked to become a pilot. She never gave up. She believed in herself. As of last week, she no longer has to answer any question about her flying with a “not yet.” Now, when people ask her if she is a pilot, she can rightfully say “Yes, I am.”