drunkenbeagle
Gang Member
Exactly.
Hypothetical Scenario: airline pilot speaking to a group of high school students
- Thread starter ktsai91
- Start date
Exactly.
Hacker15e
Who am I? Where are my pants?
Just talk about the nuts-and-bolts of what the job entails and how to do it.
The types of "hard truths" you guys are talking about are so down in the weeds that most high schoolers don't care about 'em. Outside of our fishbowl where we bat these things back and forth to each other, people aren't aware of what makes being a professional aviator tough or care about it.
Think about how tough that teacher's job is -- and how little pay they get for it -- and you'll actually hear the little violins he/she will be playing for you as you talk about how tough the profession is.
Every job has challenges. I could roll in and talk about being a military fighter pilot and scare each and every one of them into never, ever considering a military career...but that isn't the point of such a visit.
Be a positive ambassador to the aviation profession.
The types of "hard truths" you guys are talking about are so down in the weeds that most high schoolers don't care about 'em. Outside of our fishbowl where we bat these things back and forth to each other, people aren't aware of what makes being a professional aviator tough or care about it.
Think about how tough that teacher's job is -- and how little pay they get for it -- and you'll actually hear the little violins he/she will be playing for you as you talk about how tough the profession is.
Every job has challenges. I could roll in and talk about being a military fighter pilot and scare each and every one of them into never, ever considering a military career...but that isn't the point of such a visit.
Be a positive ambassador to the aviation profession.
Reminds me when I flew with one of our many Vietnam vets when I was DFW-based in my mid 20's.
I'd have the starry-eyed "Wow! That must have been really neat! Jumping off a carrier and tangling up with some MiG's"
(pause)
"Ever been shot at in anger? Imagine watching your best pal, the one you just closed the bar with last night get whacked by a missile and you don't see a chute. It wasn't a matter of if you were going to die, it was when..."
Ooh, yeah. Umm, never uhhhhh mind, bro. That was us, Bay Approach on 123.9.
I'd have the starry-eyed "Wow! That must have been really neat! Jumping off a carrier and tangling up with some MiG's"
(pause)
"Ever been shot at in anger? Imagine watching your best pal, the one you just closed the bar with last night get whacked by a missile and you don't see a chute. It wasn't a matter of if you were going to die, it was when..."
Ooh, yeah. Umm, never uhhhhh mind, bro. That was us, Bay Approach on 123.9.
rocketman5150
Well-Known Member
How many times have I read some post on here blasting the pilot mills for blowing jet blast up the rear end of some eager young space cadet about the job. And now you say that this fellow should essentially do the same?
The way I see it, when you go into a school for the purposes of something like this you are, for all intents and purposes, a teacher, and this audience is your class. They are there to learn, not hear propaganda.
Muff3n
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't focus on the negatives the whole time, but I would definitely address them briefly. Kids need to know what they are getting into. I think it would be the duty of a speaker in a situation like that to give an accurate portrayal of the job. There are pros of flying that you can talk about too, and some kids will probably love the pros of flying.
It would not be fair to go in the school and do nothing but fluff the job up and act like it has no cons. That would honestly be worse for the kids on the long run than to present both the pros and the cons. Plus, if a kid REALLY likes flying, and wants to fly, they will probably fly anyways. I have been discouraged my whole life from old pilots about how I shouldn't fly. Honestly, they made me really second guess it a few months, but I came to the realization that I would NEVER forgive myself if I at least didn't give the profession a shot. I really did not want to live with the "what ifs" about if I had tried to pursue the dream and fly. I went to school and got a degree non aviation related that I can utilize if flying doesn't work out. I would suggest telling high school kids that getting a degree in something besides aviation is definitely something they should consider. Don't tell they they CANT get an aviation degree, but definitely let then know that getting a non aviation degree is a viable option, and one that may lead to a little more flexibility down the road if they see that their life is suffering big time because of flying and they need to get out.
TLDR: Tell them both sides of job, the daily activities of the job, and ways to get there. You aren't selling aviation jobs to these kids, you are teaching them about being a professional aviator.
Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk
It would not be fair to go in the school and do nothing but fluff the job up and act like it has no cons. That would honestly be worse for the kids on the long run than to present both the pros and the cons. Plus, if a kid REALLY likes flying, and wants to fly, they will probably fly anyways. I have been discouraged my whole life from old pilots about how I shouldn't fly. Honestly, they made me really second guess it a few months, but I came to the realization that I would NEVER forgive myself if I at least didn't give the profession a shot. I really did not want to live with the "what ifs" about if I had tried to pursue the dream and fly. I went to school and got a degree non aviation related that I can utilize if flying doesn't work out. I would suggest telling high school kids that getting a degree in something besides aviation is definitely something they should consider. Don't tell they they CANT get an aviation degree, but definitely let then know that getting a non aviation degree is a viable option, and one that may lead to a little more flexibility down the road if they see that their life is suffering big time because of flying and they need to get out.
TLDR: Tell them both sides of job, the daily activities of the job, and ways to get there. You aren't selling aviation jobs to these kids, you are teaching them about being a professional aviator.
Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk