By Chris Nugent
In this month’s Scholarship Corner article, we will continue to provide some more information on our 2023 scholarship recipients. It’s important that you hear from them directly, so I have asked each of them to provide a brief overview of themselves and their aviation career goals in their own word.
Evan Erickson
For my 18th birthday, the only present I wanted was to take a discovery flight to see if piloting was what I wanted to do for a living. That flight cemented my interest in aviation and set me on the path I am on today. Because of the substantial price of flight training, I found that pursuing a degree in another aviation-related area would be my best option until I was financially sound enough to cover expenses. I am currently enrolled at Arizona State University, where I am studying three different topics: air traffic control (aircraft dispatch also), airline/airport management, and commercial unmanned aircraft operations. More degrees mean more class fees, textbooks, and one additional semester to graduate. The gratitude and support of the Arizona Pilots Association will allow me to further save for flight training as I finish up my final semesters at ASU and work towards a career in ATC or dispatching. Recognition from the association, with successful names in aviation, has shown me that my pursuits and endeavors are worthwhile in their entirety. Finally, I look forward to trekking onward toward my goals and being able to one day give back to the association, as many great donors have done for myself and many other talented individuals.
Lynn Burnett
I am very encouraged and completely appreciative of being selected to receive this year’s APA scholarship. As a single father and full-time student, the scholarship will surely help meet the basic needs of attending flight school and living expenses. I was inspired early in life to follow in my father’s footsteps and join the US Air Force. My father was a brilliant man but never had the opportunity to become an officer and a pilot. I aspire to do what my father never had the opportunity to do. My goal is to continue my flight training, achieve commercial, instrument and multi-engine ratings and finish my CFI certification by summer of 2024. Once attained, I will progress to CFII and MEII (Instrument and multiengine Instructor) ratings. Success in anything, in my opinion, happens daily, doing the things one needs to do to achieve that goal or dream. Success is in the achieving, not in the achievement. We should all strive to be lifelong learners. Upon graduating I plan to become a CFI at UND and teach other young people to fly. Ultimately, I would like to open my own no cost flight school for underprivileged and minority youth who aspire to become aviators.
My inspiration to serve has always been to help others. It's how I am wired. My leadership skills were mostly developed during my 13 years in the US Army. I was a Ranger and Ranger instructor and faced many situations during active duty, missions and deployments that developed me into the person I have become. I’ve always considered myself a humble but effective leader, coach, and mentor. I believe I can play a key role in helping to develop these young people into strong confident aviation professionals and leaders our country needs for the future.
Jason Oetken
My career goal is to become a commercial airline pilot. I plan to finish my training all the way up to becoming a multi-engine instructor and work with UND Aerospace Phoenix (where I am currently training). Simultaneously, I will be working towards obtaining a bachelor’s degree. This will help me get multi-engine time that I will then use to get hired with a charter airline with whom I will build multi-turbine hours. All these hours will help to prepare me for getting hired at a regional carrier and getting my Airline Transport Pilot Certification to get hired at a major airline. I also intend to continue my involvement with Civil Air Patrol as an Air Patrol Mission Pilot. This scholarship greatly helps to obtain my commercial rating and ultimately reach my career goals.
More to come next month and thank you again for your support in helping APA build the next generation of Arizona aviation professionals.