AOPA Member Highlight: Rachel

This month, we are talking with Rachel, an Instrument-Rated Private Pilot who is currently working to become a certified flight instructor. She fell in love with aviation a year ago and has never looked back.

Rachel recently moved to Colorado and is enjoying exploring everything the state has to offer. She was recently featured on Instagram for our Pilot Stories series. We were so enamored by her story and everything she does that we had to chat with her more! Here’s our conversation with Rachel.

AOPA: Why did you decide to become a pilot?

It’s honestly hard to pinpoint an exact moment where I knew I wanted to be a pilot. Throughout high school and college, I always thought my path was archaeology. I was very passionate about it and I was fortunate enough to attend a great field school and work on an important project in beautiful Crete. However, the moment came where I knew I needed something more. While I will always love archaeology, I needed to find something a bit more “stable.” Go figure, I chose another field where it’s just as unstable, ha!

After my discovery flight, I was hooked. I was so happy, and I just wanted to be back in the air. I remember sitting in traffic on the way home after the flight thinking of how much freedom could come from flying, how I would never spend my time day after day stuck in a commute on the road. “A mile of road will take you a mile, but a mile of runway will take you anywhere” kind of thing. Being a pilot was everything I was looking for in a career. My office view would literally be the world, and it constantly demands your growth mentally and physically which is so unbelievably rewarding. That discovery flight was a year ago and I haven’t looked back since, nor have I gone a day without aviation not being in my life. 

AOPA: Why is flying and being a pilot important to you?

Being a pilot is important to me in so many ways. It has shown me that I am constantly capable of growing and learning. I’ve learned things as a pilot that have applied to almost every aspect of my life. I’ve become better at planning, decision making, and evaluating situations logically. Not to mention I am a bit of a weather nerd! It’s also something I get to share with my family and friends which is pretty amazing not to mention cool, and it will eventually allow me to use my time to help others i.e. aerial firefighting, rescue, etc. 

AOPA: What has been your favorite thing about being a part of the aviation community?

My favorite part of the aviation community has by far been the amount of support and encouragement everyone has for each other. Countless times I’ve seen pilots helping each other with situations both inside and outside of aviation. Whether it be questions about check rides, which schools are the best, scholarship information, or just helping each other over the bumps that come along with aviation such as burning out and feeling overwhelmed or feeling discouraged about certain aspects of training. Someone has always been there to help which I think is really cool. Not to mention the countless scholarships that are offered from various organizations such as AOPA, Women in Aviation, and 99’s. It has been so cool to connect with different pilots and learn about their journeys in aviation! I think what is very unique about the aviation community is that everyone is so willing to help each other even in such a competitive field of work. 

AOPA: What is your favorite aviation memory?

There’re honestly too many great aviation memories for me to pick! I do have a few that come to mind. The first was taking up my first passengers after I received my Private. It was the best feeling getting to share something that I had been working so hard for and getting to share it with the people who supported and encouraged you along the way. My second would have to be breaking through the clouds for the first time. I had goosebumps all over and a big dumb smile on my face. It was amazing! Of course, every time I fly, and I get to see nature from above I am always in awe. Every day I think of how grateful and fortunate I am that my life and situation allow me to do this, and to do it for a living, nonetheless. 

AOPA: What do you do outside of aviation?

Outside of aviation, I love hiking and basically everything outdoors! I recently made the move to beautiful Colorado, and I intend to hike and explore as much of it as possible. I would love to get into bouldering and mountain biking. I’m lucky to have a partner who is just as adventurous. He’s really into skydiving so I think we are going to have a lot of fun once I can start flying commercially! 

AOPA: What keeps you going when you get overwhelmed, stressed, and tired?

Becoming overwhelmed and burned out in aviation is very real! It’s a very demanding field of work, and we literally risk our lives every day we get into a plane. This means studying, and preparation are crucial to the safety of the flight. So many times, I have been holed up in my room studying as much as possible feeling like it was impossible to absorb how much information was necessary. At that point, I would need to step away and go outside for a run. Something like that always helped to refocus my mind and would force me to shut off for a little which I think was very important in preventing burn out. I would say that finding a hobby or a creative outlet, something outside of aviation, is a good idea! Of course, something else that helps is having family and friends that support you and are willing to listen to your venting sessions works well too.