mrivc211
Well-Known Member
Don\'t Do This!
I wanted to share a story with you folks about one of my students. Obviously his name will be left out, but for our purposes we'll call him Jim.
Well, when Jim came to me about 3 months ago, he seemed like a typical 19 year old teenager. A little slow, a little goofy, and a little slurred in the voice. He came to me very interested in getting his PPL, and wanted to know what his options were with regards to financing. I told him about our loans that we offer thru out institution, and he applied. When he was declined, I thought he would drift away because he didn't have the finds availible for flying. Low and behold, he emerged two weeks later ready to start, with some money he had saved up from working hard for two weeks(His parents also gave him an early b-day gift for 10 lessons
).
We started out with the basics, and as we progessed thru his training, he would always show up to the next lesson, prepared with questions. The thing about Jim was, you looked at him and thought, 19 year old kid that smokes pot after school with his friends and rides his skateboard all day long. But, perceptions can be misleading. And as long as he would show up everyday ready an willing, so would I.
During our lessons, I couldn't help but notice Jim's hands. They were covered in all types of tattoos. They sord of painted a picture of his past. Though only at the age of 19, it seemed there was more to Jim than what he was telling me. After a few weeks of training and growing closer to him, he felt comfortable enough to tell me that he was a recovering alcoholic. I paused for about 5 seconds and said, "WHAT? But your only 19! " He smiled and said, yup, I am.
I'm not perfect, and I"m sure neither are most people out there, so despite what he had done in the past, everyone has a chance to start over. That is what it seemed as though Jim had done. Started over. I was skeptical after hearing his. Never to his face, but inside, I always wondered how far this kid could go.
Jim soloed last week! He was very excited, as was I. I was happy to see him get this far in his training, after all he had been thru. About a month ago, while taxing out to the runway, he turned to me and asked whether the airlines cared much for tattoos. I gave him an honest answer and said, I probably think they wouldn't like them too much if they were visible. I also told him how they were always removable, and that if you wanted something bad enough, you would let nothing stand in your way.
Well, I got a phone call from Jim today. He informed me that he had received a phone call from the FAA inquiring about his medical certificate. You see, when Jim was a minor, about 16 years old, he was caught with a DUI. Since his age was 16, the courts sealed his papers and he figured it was behind him. Well, a few weeks ago, when Jim went to take his FAA medical exam, he had been asked whether he had ever been convicted of a DUI, and he marked no. He thought those papers were sealed and no one would be the wiser. NOT SO FAST. Turns out, the FAA did find out about it. And they weren't too happy about it.
So now Jim has to wait until next week and find out the outcome of this matter. Whats the worst that can happen? They take away his medical? Which would mean he wouldn't be able to fly. Which would mean he would never have the chance to even think abotu a job with an airline some day. YES. It can happen, and it very well may. This kid, who made some stupid decisions not too long ago, has to suffer the consequences for the rest of his life.
DON"T BE HIM!
(I hate to end the story like that but I'll do it intentionally to let you think about the drastic consequences further down the line, as well as for reasons I can't think of)
Omar
I wanted to share a story with you folks about one of my students. Obviously his name will be left out, but for our purposes we'll call him Jim.
Well, when Jim came to me about 3 months ago, he seemed like a typical 19 year old teenager. A little slow, a little goofy, and a little slurred in the voice. He came to me very interested in getting his PPL, and wanted to know what his options were with regards to financing. I told him about our loans that we offer thru out institution, and he applied. When he was declined, I thought he would drift away because he didn't have the finds availible for flying. Low and behold, he emerged two weeks later ready to start, with some money he had saved up from working hard for two weeks(His parents also gave him an early b-day gift for 10 lessons
We started out with the basics, and as we progessed thru his training, he would always show up to the next lesson, prepared with questions. The thing about Jim was, you looked at him and thought, 19 year old kid that smokes pot after school with his friends and rides his skateboard all day long. But, perceptions can be misleading. And as long as he would show up everyday ready an willing, so would I.
During our lessons, I couldn't help but notice Jim's hands. They were covered in all types of tattoos. They sord of painted a picture of his past. Though only at the age of 19, it seemed there was more to Jim than what he was telling me. After a few weeks of training and growing closer to him, he felt comfortable enough to tell me that he was a recovering alcoholic. I paused for about 5 seconds and said, "WHAT? But your only 19! " He smiled and said, yup, I am.
I'm not perfect, and I"m sure neither are most people out there, so despite what he had done in the past, everyone has a chance to start over. That is what it seemed as though Jim had done. Started over. I was skeptical after hearing his. Never to his face, but inside, I always wondered how far this kid could go.
Jim soloed last week! He was very excited, as was I. I was happy to see him get this far in his training, after all he had been thru. About a month ago, while taxing out to the runway, he turned to me and asked whether the airlines cared much for tattoos. I gave him an honest answer and said, I probably think they wouldn't like them too much if they were visible. I also told him how they were always removable, and that if you wanted something bad enough, you would let nothing stand in your way.
Well, I got a phone call from Jim today. He informed me that he had received a phone call from the FAA inquiring about his medical certificate. You see, when Jim was a minor, about 16 years old, he was caught with a DUI. Since his age was 16, the courts sealed his papers and he figured it was behind him. Well, a few weeks ago, when Jim went to take his FAA medical exam, he had been asked whether he had ever been convicted of a DUI, and he marked no. He thought those papers were sealed and no one would be the wiser. NOT SO FAST. Turns out, the FAA did find out about it. And they weren't too happy about it.
So now Jim has to wait until next week and find out the outcome of this matter. Whats the worst that can happen? They take away his medical? Which would mean he wouldn't be able to fly. Which would mean he would never have the chance to even think abotu a job with an airline some day. YES. It can happen, and it very well may. This kid, who made some stupid decisions not too long ago, has to suffer the consequences for the rest of his life.
DON"T BE HIM!
(I hate to end the story like that but I'll do it intentionally to let you think about the drastic consequences further down the line, as well as for reasons I can't think of)
Omar
