Fridays Fabulous Flyer!
John Copeland
I met John a couple years ago when his parents invited me to dinner. Well, it started as my donating six copies of Fight For Control to Aviation High School Auction a few years back. John's dad, Mike, came walking by and he had no choice but to bid on them. The plan was I would come and talk to a group... a book talk, on his boat. That manifested into a lovely dinner his wife Grace prepared, with an incredible family. I don't think I ever laughed so hard. The Copelands are quality people.
John, the eldest son, is currently a junior attending Raisbeck Aviation High School, and has always had a love of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) studies. Basically, he's brilliant. He choose Raisbeck Aviation High School because of its rigorous studies and college prep, not to mention the aviation focus.
He had been considering this high school since its opening in 2003 when his mother first noticed it, and as his love of aviation grew, they knew this was the only place for him.
Johns, interest in flight more than likely came from taking frequent trips with his family. Due to his father being a sales rep and his accumulation of miles from his weekly trips, they used those miles to travel across the country. Their family also went on many boating trips around the Puget Sound during summers, and John gained a great deal of experience with many skills used in aviation, such as how to plan a course based on the weather, tides, and time of day. He also learned to measure speed in knots, and distance in nautical miles.
John is currently undecided between two careers: piloting or engineering. Engineering uses two of John's favorite topics, science and math, and the job market offers a good initial salary and many options. But piloting is appealing to John, and something he has enjoyed since his first small aircraft flight, his freshman year at Raisbeck Aviation High School. The thought of being paid to fly has been a dream since that flight.
So what is John doing now besides school? I have hired him to be my Executive Assistant! With school, writing, grandkids, and working I do not have time to keep up on life. John is going to help me share my blog, tweet messages and be my right hand. I'm excited to be working with someone talented, intelligent and who wants to work. He's a great young man and I'm fortunate to know him.
Now we need to help John figure out what he wants to do. My thought is... Why not both careers? Engineering degree while learning to fly. Share your thoughts and lets help this young man get pointed in the right direction.
Johns, interest in flight more than likely came from taking frequent trips with his family. Due to his father being a sales rep and his accumulation of miles from his weekly trips, they used those miles to travel across the country. Their family also went on many boating trips around the Puget Sound during summers, and John gained a great deal of experience with many skills used in aviation, such as how to plan a course based on the weather, tides, and time of day. He also learned to measure speed in knots, and distance in nautical miles.
John is currently undecided between two careers: piloting or engineering. Engineering uses two of John's favorite topics, science and math, and the job market offers a good initial salary and many options. But piloting is appealing to John, and something he has enjoyed since his first small aircraft flight, his freshman year at Raisbeck Aviation High School. The thought of being paid to fly has been a dream since that flight.
So what is John doing now besides school? I have hired him to be my Executive Assistant! With school, writing, grandkids, and working I do not have time to keep up on life. John is going to help me share my blog, tweet messages and be my right hand. I'm excited to be working with someone talented, intelligent and who wants to work. He's a great young man and I'm fortunate to know him.
Now we need to help John figure out what he wants to do. My thought is... Why not both careers? Engineering degree while learning to fly. Share your thoughts and lets help this young man get pointed in the right direction.
Please follow John on Twitter
Enjoy the Journey!
XO Karlene
A big hello to your Assistant :) He sounds like a bright guy with a bright future..who better to hang out with, than a mentor like you, Karlene! I'm sure he'll pick up loads of good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on career choice, he should do both if he can. In future, his options will be a lot more with an Engineering major and flying skills/certificates..Even the sky won't be a limit :)
Wishing him all the best! And you as well, always!
Thank you so much Anup! Yes... doing both would be great. If you have to get a degree anyway... might as well make it something useful. And then fly! He'll make the right decision!
DeleteAerospace engineering might be an option as well! Definitely something to look into with a lot of potential. Good luck to tou :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Jillian!
DeleteJohn, why not have the best of both worlds? USAF has a test pilot program that essentially consists of pilot-engineers. It's not the "human cannon ball" many people probably think it is. I have several friends who have gone through test pilot school and are serving as test pilots. They get to do some pretty school stuff while exploiting their engineering degrees. If you'd like to hear more Karlene can pass you my email address and phone number and I'd be happy to talk to you more about it. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteRob, That's a great idea. And most definitely the best of both worlds. Thank you so much for the comment and your willingness to talk to John. I really appreciate it!!
DeleteI had the exact same thought as Ron. It makes me wish I had gotten a degree in engineering because my business degree gives me no chance of Test Pilot School. They fly a ton of different planes and do some very cool stuff. The best of both worlds if you enjoy the flying and the engineering.
ReplyDeleteThank you Dave, I'm thinking that I should have gotten a degree in Engineering too. However, they would not have allowed me to be a test pilot at the time, so business worked for me.
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