Depression

[jawright]

Hi. Have any of you career change people experienced depression after realizing that you were in the wrong field and really wanted a career in aviation?

Here's a little background.I'm 26. I've been in college for the past 4 years (with a year left) pursuing a degree in music because I wanted to teach music at the college level. Aviation has always been somewhere in the back of my mind, but I didn't start learning to fly until this year. I went to my first lesson and all of a sudden I realized that I want a career in aviation. Now I'm 35K in debt from this undergrad degree that is useless outside of music, and I'm going to have to repay these loans AND learn to fly on a 28K starting teacher's salary. Luckily I can live at home to minimize expenses.
I feel like I've wasted a lot of time and money and wonder what I've been doing with my life until now. I'm extremely frustrated because I know where I want to end up but can't even start in that direction until I graduate and make some money. Sometimes I think I'll never reach my goal. Has anyone else gone through anything like this?? What helped you get through it? Have I completely screwed myself out of an aviation career?

Thank you for your help.

 

[ready2fly]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi. Have any of you career change people experienced depression after realizing that you were in the wrong field and really wanted a career in aviation?


[/ QUOTE ]
GOD YES!!! I have been a Paralegal for 12 years. When I was 36, I realized that I COULD fly for a living after all (I had listened to uninformed voices for many many years telling me I had to have 20/20 vision and be a military pilot first).

I am now 39, I have earned all of my ratings through Commercial single and multi-engine land and I am currently working on my initial CFI and should be able to start instructing in a matter of months. (about 3 - Good Lord willing).

Bottom line:

Follow your dream. If flying is where your heart is - do it.

BUT - Finish the College Degree in music or whatever you like because it is wise to have something you can fall back on!!!!

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

BTW - if your question is: "at 26, am I too old to get started?" .... the answer is a resounding "NO!".

 

[jtrain609]

And you were going to incur that debt from getting your degree no matter what. You need a degree to fly for the airlines, and you need to spend a similar chunk of cash to get your ratings. Kind of sucky, but your in the same position as a lot of people. There are some people on this forum that are over $100,000 in debt after college and flight training, so don't feel too bad.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Cheers


John Herreshoff

 

[jawright]

It's a combination of the age+debt from undergrad thing.

 

[jtrain609]

You're not doing too bad man. I'm going to be nearly 24 by the time I get out of my undergaduate work.

Christ...am I really gonna be nearly 24 by then?

Don't feel too bad man, you're in a really good spot to make the jump, and it's good that you've gotten your degree in something other than aviation.

Cheers


John Herreshoff

 

[syxfo]

Don't fret. I am now 37 years young. You are still in a great position. Although I had my private before I began teaching in a public school, I was in a very similar situation. Teaching has some benefits, mainly summer vacation! After I started teaching I worked on my instr, commercial and CFI. I left teaching for a year to flight instruct but found that financially I was better off teaching and flight instructing summers and weekends. I then added the ME-commercial and flew my friends around in an Aztec or Seneca while splitting the costs. Even though I didn't feel I had competetive times, especially multi, I started sending out resumes. I think fate gave me a little help becuase, to my surprise, I was called for an interview. In January I was hired by my hometown airline, Skyway (MIdwest Connect) Airlines. In my opinion, keep all your options open because you just never know what could happen. A teaching degree is a nice insurance policy to have in your pocket!!

 

[seasmoke]

I agree that you are in a good position right now age - wise as well as degree. At least you know what you really want to do. I've known many people through the years that have never really found what they wanted to do with their lives and settled with jobs / careers that have made them very depressed. I say go for it if its what your heart is telling you and good luck with your decisions.

 

[kellwolf]

[ QUOTE ]
When I was 36, I realized that I COULD fly for a living after all (I had listened to uninformed voices for many many years telling me I had to have 20/20 vision and be a military pilot first).

[/ QUOTE ]

I think we must have been hanging around with the same people.....

 

[Conan]

Hey Jaw,

I’d say, you’re lucky to have thought of this in your 20's. I just turned 27, and I too have one more year to finish (undergrad). You’re in the right track because, like everyone reiterated, especially Doug (time and time again. .lol), if you’re serious about flying for the majors, you’ll indisputably need it. So, think of the debt as an inevitable expenditure. Regarding your major, I think everyone will agree with me that it’s better to have a degree non-aviation oriented. For one, airliners don’t care what major you have (as long as you have one), and two, if the market becomes as volatile as it is/was, you can always go part time in a field that has nothing to do with aviation, particularly teaching music.

Bro, if I were you, I wouldn’t sweat it, you have age on your side, admittedly, some of us just don’t have the comfort of that luxury anymore.

Take care and good luck!
Conan

 

[Flying_Corporal]

I would suggest to try to look at aviation from a more pragmatic point of view.

A few points here:

- As an intructor I see a lot of students getting fired up on the first few lessons and then loose interest shortly after. Make sure you really love flying.

- Consider what it is to be flying for a living. It's not just taking lessons once or twice a week, but FLYING EVERY DAY. Schedules are tough, competition is fierce and pay is, well, barely survivable to say the least. Can you have a successful family life? May be, but it's more complicated than being a salesperson or a teacher, I think.

A lot of us are dreamers. We're are excited at flying and we tend to ignore all the practical things about aviation (pay, pension, stability, health issues, etc.). Be cold headed and try to get an impartial opinion. I doubt you could get that at an aviation career forum

FC

 

[Silverhawk]

Keep at it !!! .

Education no matter what your degree isn't wasted time even if it may not be aligned closely with your career goals..

I too am 26 and have only two classes left to finish up my Master's... believe me.. I have many times thought the heck with all this school work .. even with just 2 classes left !!! and my job for the past three years has me sitting in a 5 foot by 5 foot cube doing repetative and routine financial work... BUT it pays the bills and let's me pay upfront for my flight training !!

Keep your goals in mind and look at the bigger picture.. I think you're off on a good start knowing where you would like to be someday down the road.. as you can read thru many posts on this board aviation is often times tough to break into and requires a deep committment on your part over the long haul.. it sounds like you've already grasped that part .. now it's just a matter of plugging away at every angle and opportunity you can create / uncover to reach those goals !!

 

[av8trxx]

[ QUOTE ]
I would suggest to try to look at aviation from a more pragmatic point of view....

- Consider what it is to be flying for a living. It's not just taking lessons once or twice a week, but FLYING EVERY DAY. Schedules are tough, competition is fierce and pay is, well, barely survivable to say the least....

[/ QUOTE ]

Excellent point! All things considered, it's a great career. However the sacrifices to get here and what life is like for the first 5 years are often not fully understood and being an 'airline pilot' is so romanticized. Once I got hired, flying was very different from what I had experienced before the airlines. (Not to mention I made far better money than $20K/yr.) What one imagines/expects may not be the same thing. Having been in the airline business half my life, I had my eyes wide open about my midlife career change.
Good Luck on yours.

 

[Minnesota_Flyer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
When I was 36, I realized that I COULD fly for a living after all (I had listened to uninformed voices for many many years telling me I had to have 20/20 vision and be a military pilot first).

[/ QUOTE ]

I think we must have been hanging around with the same people.....

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, me too. Even though I'm now pretty well aware of how it all works, I still have trouble beating off the know-nothing naysayers.

MF

 

[ready2fly]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, me too. Even though I'm now pretty well aware of how it all works, I still have trouble beating off the know-nothing naysayers.

[/ QUOTE ]
Ditto here, bro. They're everywhere.

 

[Mavmb]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi. Have any of you career change people experienced depression after realizing that you were in the wrong field and really wanted a career in aviation?


Thank you for your help.

[/ QUOTE ]

Has anyone in aviation, espeically piloting, ever experienced depression because they realize they could have made more money in another field?

And I'll bet that's a yes.

 

[Mr_Creepy]

[ QUOTE ]

Has anyone in aviation, espeically piloting, ever experienced depression because they realize they could have made more money in another field?

And I'll bet that's a yes.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes - glad I realized it soon!

Actually I'm still in aviation - just not a line pilot.

 

[giniunand]

is anyone on this post familiar with Regional Salaries. I just came off another post discussing a F/O dropping out (44yrs old), after having a 4 yr. stint in the Regionals due to lack of sufficient pay. No reply yet on that post as to what exactly his salary was. I had my flight instructor tell me an Atlas 747 F/O he knows, which he introduced me to briefly this past weekend on the East Coast at an AirField, makes around $45k/year, and he didn't seem to be joking. He was hired pre-9/11 so he's been flying for 5 + years and he said they needed people back then and just hired him. I trust him on the fact that the guy is a 747 f/o but the salary seemed shaky to me. Would they start a 747 f/o at a salary around $45k/ yr? What would that say for a Regional? He had no prior military background but came out of the Marine Corp. as a Ltc. Are salaries set in stone across the board by a Fed. Agency or are they dictated from Airline to Airline? Is there a great disparity between Airlines? Anyone have good hard knowledge/facts? This last weekend, my instructor really got me worried how I was going to stay within 50 miles of a city if I was getting paid $25k as a Regional f/o and sitting on the line for 4 years waiting for an upgrade.

 

[Bluffster]

Understand that you're still in the shiny/newness phase of learning to fly and you're all in love and can't wait to leave everything behind to follow your dream. You may eventually end up doing just that, but I'd recommend a couple things.

First, finish up your degree and start looking for a career as a music teacher. You're going to need the income anyway to learn to fly, so you may as well have a good job in the meantime.

Second, continue your flight training as money allows. There really is no rush here. You're better off enjoying aviation at each level of your training, taking your time and experiencing it fully rather than doing the headlong rush into the right seat of an airline in minimum time. Nothing will kill your love of flying faster than trying to rush to get ahead on a career. And if you end up not loving it, then what was the point of changing careers?

If living at home to save money on expenses is an option, then great. You will have more money to spend on flying and starting to repay some of those loans.

While holding down your full-time job as a music teacher, start instructing in the evenings and on weekends. Heck, you're already a teacher, so instructing should be natural for you. Plus, you will learn tons and forge relationships that will last throughout your career. The good news is that once you start teaching, the flying will begin to pay for itself.

When you're ready to apply for the step after instructing, employers will often look favorably on your more diverse background. They will also admire that you steadily worked your way through sensibly, rather than incurring a bunch more debt and shorting yourself on training. Aviation takes time to develop a maturity in your flying. Give yourself that time.

The Other Option
Or, you could just get a huge new loan, go to a 90-day pilot mill, then wander the streets looking for a low-paying full-time CFI job, eating Kraft Mac'n'Cheese while Livin' the Dream like the rest of us.

 

[aloft]

Careful...depression is a four-letter word in aviation, one you NEVER want to mention to an AME or the FAA! Check the FARs.

 

[Sir_Captain]

Man, you guys are the best, this site is the best!!!! I like you people, good advice.

I think you're right, take your time with it, or else you'll be disillusioned with the workload and money spent. We all go through that when we get around checkride time.