“I’ve been flying for about four years now.

My dad would always come up with these crazy new ideas. One of these times he said, ‘Maybe I want to fly.’ While he was interested, he started searching for cheaper ways to fly because flying is super expensive. He eventually lost interest in [flying], but when he [was interested] he mentioned it to me. He said, ‘Do you want to try this demo flight?,’ so I [got the chance to] take my first glider flight.

They took me up into the air and they [gave me] the controls for a little bit, just to get the feel of it. I was immediately like, ‘Oh my gosh this is amazing, this is super fun.’ After I landed and came out of the plane, [I had a] big smile on my face and that’s when I realized [flying] was something I definitely [wanted] to do.

I started on gliders because they were cheaper and they were also a better teaching experience. [I’ve] moved up now to more power planes and more advanced aerial techniques. There are a lot of differences between gliders and power planes. The biggest difference is how you take off. With a glider, you can’t just use an engine to take off, so instead we use a tow plane, which is a regular power plane. You have to practice all the procedures on how to follow the tow plane. There are a whole bunch of safety aspects that go with a tow plane that I feel makes gliding a lot more interesting, more intriguing and more difficult.

The Soaring Club of Houston is a huge volunteer gliding club. You schedule a flight wherever you’re able to, and you can show up and do a flying day. In order to keep the club operating, you have to have a ground crew, so every member of the club has to show up for a crew day every two months to help operate the planes from the ground.

My dad definitely wants me to stay connected with my flying club. A big part of how he helped was that he made sure I didn’t lose track of my training. He always told me to read flying theory. I can’t just show up to the field and fly, I have to study and learn all the aeronautics and dynamics. He also reminds me that flying is not just [about] fun; it’s also a huge safety risk.

Now it’s simply about getting older, [keeping] flying and [getting] a license.