Adventures of a Flying It’s difficult to describe how influential both music and flying have been in my life. My interest in both started at a young age and are as strong as ever. As I enter my senior year of college as an aerospace engineering major at the University of Tennessee, I look back on how it all started and realize just how fortunate I have been and how many wonderful people and organizations have helped me along the way. As a fourteenth birthday present, an instructor at Murfreesboro Aviation took me up in a Cessna 152 for my first discovery flight. From that moment, I was hooked and knew I wanted to be a pilot. I was about to embark upon my freshman year in high school and did not think I would be able to achieve that goal any time soon. So I focused my attention on school, playing in the band, and singing in the choir. I also shared with anyone who would listen about my discovery flight experience and my desire to fly. As coincidence would have it, my choir director’s father was a pilot, and knowing my interest, she shared with me information regarding the Flying Musicians Association’s FMA Solo Scholarship Program. I applied and was honored to be elected as one of the 2017 FMA Solo Scholarship recipients. In addition to the amazing support I received from FMA, Murfreesboro Aviation, where I would train, donated an additional 10 hours of instruction and flight time.
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Before beginning my training at Murfreesboro Aviation, I attended the Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) Aviation Camp. For a week I had the opportunity to fly a Diamond DA-40 and spend time in MTSU’s 360-degree air traffic control simulator. The camp was a great introduction to flight basics. On July 10, 2017, I received my first lesson at Murfreesboro Aviation. My instructor, Tanner Quigley, was not much older than me, but he had years of experience under his belt and was a great instructor and mentor. Over the following months, I immersed myself in flying and learning more about a wide range of planes. I toured the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, TN; logged time in a 1928 Ford Tri-Motor 5 AT-B; flew with FMA Ambassador Gary Piper in his 1940 Piper J-3 Cub; and rode in a B-17 Flying Fortress Aluminum Overcast. As I entered my senior year in high school, I had another important decision to make - college. I opted to stay in my home state to attend the University of Tennessee. UT was a perfect fit because it gave me the opportunity to major in aerospace engineering and to perform with the Pride of the Southland Marching