No One Warned Me About This Struggle in Flight Training

all right I'm Gonna Be A little vulnerable in this story here but my hope is that it encourages some of you to pursue Aviation and more importantly to know that you're not alone if you experience what I'm about to describe I recently walked into the front doors of a flight school to get info about finishing my commercial license this is the third time I have started working on this because life has always gotten in the way so I already had some insecurity just trying to get this process started again but I really want to get it finished when I pulled into the parking lot my mind just immediately filled with questions I was worried I wouldn't have the answers to like when are you taking your written test when are you available to fly when can you even start and I honestly thought about just not walking in and putting it off another week coming up with all the questions they might ask me and having the answers but my confidence it was just this weird experience in the parking lot before walking in my confidence dropped but I decided to just push through that and just be confident knowing yeah I'm not gonna have the answers to maybe all the questions they ask me and that's okay the most important thing here is just to get the ball rolling so confidence went back up when I opened the front doors the flight school was absolutely really packed I mean there were people everywhere and they were walking around with a lot of intention everyone seemed like they knew where to go they knew what they were doing they knew everything it was just one of those moments have you ever stood on the side of a room and you think everyone here knows exactly what to do and what they're doing and I don't I haven't felt that in a while and when I walked in I just had this wave of insecurity my confidence went back down and also I thought and look at all these young guys and I know I'm a young guy and I started I thought man these guys are really young and stuff and so I just felt felt like an outsider it was one of those moments where you incorrectly assumed that everybody else in the room has it figured out and you don't and so here I am starting my commercial for the third time thinking man I just walked in and I I already don't have what it takes so my confidence immediately went down I told the receptionist I wanted to talk to someone about finishing my commercials she then walked me upstairs and I was shocked at who she paired me up with it's a guy named Brian Williams who I immediately recognized because 17 years before this date he was the same flight school manager he's still there he's still helping people learn to fly so I was a 15 year old at the time working on my private trying to solo on my 16th birthday so I walked in and I I almost almost laughed a little bit just because I was happy and I said you're not gonna remember me but I definitely remember you it made me think of Groundhog Day whenever he walks in Ned Ned Ryerson you know you're not gonna remember me but I sure as heck if I remember you Ned anyways correct great movie I could go on anyway my dad appreciates that joke that Dad thanks for watching anyways the point is I got to sit down with Brian Williams a very familiar face so he says they can definitely help me finish my commercial and so between recognizing him and hearing hey they can help my confidence goes way back up he then proceeded to ask me about my goals which funny enough this brought my confidence way down because it's something I'm really thinking through and I just told him I said honestly uh I'll just be honest I don't know I I know that I want to become a flight instructor maybe I want to fly professionally one day I'm not sure but all I know is that my commercial is a gating item to doing any of that so here I am is that okay and uh I'm insecure to share that with him and I'm insecure to share that here on camera but the reason I wanted to share it is because I I think it's so easy just to think that everybody else has everything figured out and in aviation you know no one else has has gotten questions wrong on a test like I have no one else has had an instructor ask them a question that they felt like they should know but they didn't like I'm just here to tell you like that's me I've gotten questions wrong on a test people ask me questions I don't know the answer to even questions about my own self and my own goals and things and so just want to encourage you that you're not alone and when I shared that with Brian I thought that me saying anything other than I want to go to the Airlines and I'm ready to start tomorrow would have been a failing grade like I'm not the right person to be there but he paused him with his smile just said we can help and I get to talk to guys every single day that feel the exact same way that you do guys of all ages all backgrounds all different kinds of career aspirations the common denominator the thing that they all share is this they all love to fly and we here at the flight school all love to fly and as he was talking I noticed behind the glass door behind his office this massive I mean taking up the is bigger than the wall behind me this huge mock-up of a cockpit lit up at night and it caught my gaze and he caught he caught my gaze of looking at that and just kind of turned around and looked at me said I know right motivation we all get a kick out of that because we all love to fly and that is when it clicked for me all the thoughts I had a few moments prior about look at all these young guys just still funny to me look at all these young guys everybody has it figured out but me I'm staying in the corner I'm not sure what my goals are all that kind of got quieter when I heard Brian validate me by saying you love to fly we love it too Aviation is worth pursuing it is worthy of your time and your interest and you're in the right place I wasn't an outsider anymore I was an Insider not because of my experience but just for the fact that I loved Aviation just like they did and as I had that conversation with Brian I immediately thought man there are probably a lot of people out there that want to pursue Aviation that are dealing with similar insecurities questions and doubts that I am right now so I want to offer you the same encouragement that Brian offered to me I want to affirm you that first Aviation is worth pursuing some of you have people in your life that say I don't get it why would you want to fly why would you want to go do that with your time or your money or career and for those of us that just love Aviation you get it and I want to affirm you here yeah it's awesome it is worth it's not for everybody but it is worth pursuing if that's what interests you I also encourage you that you're not alone regardless of your age your background your career aspirations when you walk in the doors of a flight school or you go to an airport or you go to a pilot meeting we are all United by the common bond that we love to fly everything else is just the detail I also want to validate you that taking that first step be it calling the flight school walking into the flight school taking that first lesson taking your first check ride all of those many First Steps they're all intimidating but you just have to do it and it doesn't have to be complicated it can really just be figuring out what the next Domino to fall needs to be it could be scheduling that Discovery flight could be getting a lesson on the calendar it could be any of those things figure out the easiest thing to do to get some commitment and go do it put it on your calendar and just get the ball rolling now I have a favor to ask that will only take you about literally 20 seconds and I think it will create more pilots as a result I would love it if the comments section were full of people encouraging others to take that first step in aviation providing that nudge of hey it's awesome I can attend yes I just took my first lesson or I've been a pilot for 30 years and let me just tell you how awesome it is yes don't wait hey we're here for you we're pumped you're not alone like if it could just be full of encouragement I promise there's gonna be people watching this video that are on the fence or they're insecure like I am and was and they're going to read through the comments section and that is going to be the the first Domino to fall to get them to to take that leap into Aviation and so you watching this video you have the power to create more pilots and it starts in a small way down through the comment section one of the scariest parts of starting is just walking in that front door and once you find a Brian to encourage you through that it gets a lot easier and so my hope is that this video and the comments section down below can be your Brian today and encourage you to keep going if you're still trying to gather info about how to start your Aviation journey I put together a free 20 plus page PDF you can get it over at airplaneacademy.com start where I address the most frequently asked questions that I get and I give you just a really quick answer and then a link to a broader resource if you want to read more or research more I think it's a good way to get started it's totally free and really just want to help you be able to jump into Aviation because it is worth pursuing so airplaneacademy.com start don't forget to leave a comment and let's grow the pilot Community together

Channel: Airplane Academy

Views: 120,548

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Id: JRUlJ6kGm_w

Length: 7min 38sec (458 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 18 2023