Hello, friends! Welcome to my first post and thanks for stopping by my page! My dad initially mentioned starting this blog, and I was pretty hesitant at first. I kept pushing the usual self-doubting thoughts around in my brain; “what do I have to say” and “I have no experience” and blah blah blah. You know the drill. At any rate, I went out to the International Women in Aviation Conference about two weeks ago and my whole view changed! I was surrounded by hundreds of talented, intelligent, strong, and fiercely-motivated women (and some men!) all with one goal in mind: sharing their love of aviation! I have been so inspired these past few weeks, and have been using that motivation to propel me forward as I wrap up the last of my PPL!
The conference itself was fantastic! There were hundreds of booths set up with everyone from the Coast Guard to Delta Corporate Jets to Boeing to Desert Jet and even Uber! Speed mentoring events, educational sessions, club meetings and hiring seminars were just a few items on the agenda!
The speed mentoring event was a success and I HIGHLY recommend attending any and all similar events in the future! I was lucky enough to talk with 5 different women, all of whom had different perspectives on life and aviation. It was wonderful to be back in a group of like-minded women, all wanting to lead and inspire. It was a camaraderie that I didn’t realize I had been missing and needing since departing the Coast Guard. Having the ability to talk with women of various backgrounds reminded me that we are all pretty similar! More importantly, it reminded me to step out of my comfort zone and ask for help! I have been needing some motivation and inspiration for this final push of my license, and being at the event gave me the courage to step up and ask these fine women to be a part of my journey! The best part is, EVERY woman I asked to help mentor and guide me said YES!
The educational sessions were impressive to say the least. One session we attended was “An Aviation Marriage” in which Dr. Janette McMurtrie discussed the challenges of being a pilot and maintaining a healthy homelife. Her presentation was both insightful and informative. Being unmarried, I hadnt given it much thought to how my future career could potentially impact my husband/family down the road. She gave some great tips on how to balance both successfully, as well as ways to realize when your relationship may be under duress so you can catch it early. We also sat in on a presentation about “Imposter Syndrome”, which was eye opening. If you haven’t read about this phenomenon, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read up on it, as it DOES have an impact on your day to day (hence my initial thoughts of “what do I have to say?”).
During one of the hosted luncheons, Gwynne Shotwell, (President and COO of SpaceX) spoke to the conference about SpaceX’s attempts at having rockets land themselves upon returning to earth. She showed up a blooper reel of all of their failed attempts at having the rockets land back on earth. While it was supposed to be a funny video, it was a reminder that even the best and smartest people are still having to work through all sorts of struggles to get to the end goal. Which brings me to the greatest thing I heard the entire conference: “Have absurdly ambitious goals”. When she said that, it really hit home. All my self-doubt and second guessing kind of came to a halt for a split second. WHY am I always doubting myself and thinking I can’t do it?! They are literally sending machines into space and then having it land itself back on Earth! If they are doing that, why can’t I become a pilot?! The answer is that I can! And I will! It just may take a bit longer than I planned and be a bit harder than I thought, but thats just part of having absurdly ambitious goals!
This was a bit all over the place but I’m glad to have somewhere to start! More on the WAI conference, my aviation journey, and having absurdly ambitious goals later!
Rachels Blog 
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