Your grandma likes to tell you that you were a reincarnated pilot. She isn’t being honest, reincarnation doesn’t exist. You always walked with her to the nearby airport and walked on the tarmac while watching planes take off and land. You didn’t go there as much as you wanted, but you liked it anyways. You went through the first few years of elementary school dreaming about your first flight, and it finally happens in the 3rd grade with your mom’s friend who happens to be a pilot. It’s part of a promotional event with the town at the airport, and you are excited. You don’t really know what to expect of it, but you hope for the best.

And that flight is what hooks you. All you can think about is flying. You read books about aviation and you can’t wait to fly again. Fourth grade finally rolls around, and you’re slightly optimistic about the new year. Then, you hear about a program your class is participating in every Thursday for a month or so. It's all about flight and space exploration, and you can’t wait to participate. When the day finally rolls around, you participate as much as possible. You try things like building homemade hovercrafts, building space stations on a computer program, but your favorite part is the flight simulator. That is where you spend most of your time, and you are loving every minute of it.

For a while, you’re not really involved in aviation. You’ve been out of it for a few years now, and you are hoping that for some reason, aviation will come back into your life just like that girl that you want back. You are stupid for ignoring it, but really there isn’t much you can do about it.

Then, at age 12, join the Civil Air Patrol. It doesn’t matter that you’re slightly overweight, you can still do it. You’re feeling good about it, because in Civil Air Patrol, you have the option to go on orientation flights in both powered airplanes and gliders, but you cautiously choose powered airplanes. After all, you want to be a commercial pilot. Finally, go on your first orientation ride. Have second thoughts about it because it is scary at first. Ask yourself “why do I want to do this for a living when I’m older?” Almost give up your dream. Then, after four years of not flying, get back into it.

At age 16, figure out that it is best for your future to start flying. Decide that you will move along quickly in your training, so it will be fun and also easy since you have some knowledge. Find a good instructor and fly with him a lot. Then, get another instructor due to medical complications with the first one. Find that you also enjoy your other instructor, and enjoy the praise he gives you when you make that perfect landing. Continue to enjoy your flying, travelling to different, awesome places and meeting new people involved in aviation. Never lose sight of your dream, it's the only thing that keeps you going.

Learn about it as much as you can, aviation is not only a commitment but a passion, live every single moment swinging high in the blue emptiness of the sky, gazing off into the clouds that are thousands of feet below you.

Fall in love with aviation, it is the only thing that you dream of and the only thing that keeps you moving every day. Each high school struggle is endured only knowing that you are preparing yourself for your dream job, travelling all across the country, seeing things on a daily basis that people only dream of. Look upon the magic of flight happening before your very eyes, chase the New England coast up to Martha's Vineyard. Decide that very day, that this is your future.

But, the real secret to being a pilot is the commitment to the sky. Find yourself lost up there, looking at other airplanes and identifying them while your friends and family give you looks. The secret is being patient, learning to conform to how things work, and loving the sky. "For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards," Leonardo Da Vinci once said. "For there you have been and there you will long to return."