How Passion and Perseverance Overcome Adversity

By Sydney Lavoi

A lesson on never giving up!

From a young age, I have always loved big machines, from semi-trucks to excavators. I enjoyed watching planes fly overhead, but I didn’t really become interested in aviation until I was given the opportunity to take an aerospace class in my eighth-grade year. We were promised a discovery flight, and, of course, that piqued my interest. I applied for the class, and was accepted.

We started with learning the phonetic alphabet and the four forces of flight. Then, we learned about stalls and how the engine worked. We built ninety paper rockets with different wing types and launched them to see the best shape, made controllable airplanes out of styrofoam, and shot many bottle rockets. Just as we were starting our rocket engine unit, Covid-19 was spreading. We had also just started picking our dates to go on our discovery flight, but we were not able to go because our school shut down and no school field trips were allowed. I was upset that we couldn’t go; so, for months, I asked my parents to let me take a discovery flight. They were very nervous, as there are no other pilots in my family. I finally convinced them, and it was love at first flight.

From there, I began the flight training that would change the rest of my life. This came with many hurdles. My city was hit by hurricanes, Laura and Delta, which stopped my flight training for a period of time. I eventually made my way back to the airport and started training again. I was ready for my first solo flight, but I was still fifteen years old. I eventually turned sixteen and soloed on my birthday, a feeling I’ll never forget!

I had some trouble with my instructor, so I stopped flying for another period of time. During the time I did not have an instructor, I was studying for the written exam. I took it after two months and passed! The next week, I was on my way to OshKosh, Wisconsin, for the largest airshow in the world, AirVenture! I had won a scholarship through Cajun’s Aviation Dream to attend the EAA Advanced Air Academy. At the camp, we were able to attend the last three days of AirVenture. Once that was over, we rotated between classroom and workshop activities every day. We built a wing rib, welded a spark plug holder, and made our own kneeboard with epoxy. We learned about aviation weather, different career paths in aviation, and more. It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.

Once I got back home, I found a new instructor, but it came with a new hurdle. I had to switch to a new airport and aircraft. It felt like I was starting over, but I was not going to let that stop me from following my dreams. I eventually re-soloed in the new aircraft, completed all the requirements for my private pilot’s license, took my checkride, and passed! It took many hours of preparation, chair-flying, and studying, but it was well worth it. I am now a seventeen-year-old, first generation female private pilot! I have learned that if you want it bad enough, you will work for it; and that’s what I did. This is just the beginning of my aviation journey. I plan to go to Louisiana Tech for aviation and then, to the airlines. For now, I am enjoying the privileges that come with having a pilot's license.