Decision Point
Fellow aviators,
I'm writing this here because I'm sure many of you will understand my dilemma better than non-aviators.
I've been through broken relationships and family deaths but this is the hardest thing for me mentally by far. For the first time in my life I'm directionless.
I'm 24.5, have a PPL, graduated this year with a four year degree in business management, and have absolutely no debt (I worked through college to help pay some of the tuition and received some federal aid). I don't have a family or anything to support. I'd love one at some point though.
Flying...
Since I was five years old I wanted to be an airline pilot. I can remember the day I decided to pursue this career like it was yesterday. To me, astronaut, surgeon, navy seal, and airline pilot were all some of the most professional professions I could think off. I've always thought that I could exceed in flying and become a great professional doing something that I'm obsessed about. I was/am really looking forward to learning, teaching, and eventually putting in some time at a regional airline to have a reasonable QOL. I wanted to be at an airline by the time I was 24 so as to give the profession a good effort by the time I was 30.
Business...
I got a business degree in general management as a back-up plan. I really had no interest in business throughout all of school and in-fact it was almost torturous. Not that it was hard, it's just that I had no interest whatsoever. The thought of working in an office scares me. In this economy, jobs that pay $30-40K are requiring 2-5 years previous experience in their respective fields. I'm afraid that if I was in the business world, I'd either be the most incompetent one surrounded by a bunch of motivated business savvy people or I'd be stuck with a bunch of incompetent people myself. Also, it seems, at least in this economy, that mid-career business salaries are only around $50-70K on average.
My problem...
I come from poverty and I don't qualify for any loans and can not get a co-signer. I never made enough money at the mom-and-pop shop to qualify for a loan either. This makes fast-tracking my ratings out of the question. I am going to have to pay for my IFR-CFII out-of-pocket. This is fine, I don't mind working 1 or even 2 hourly jobs to finance 1 or 2 lessons a week. By the time I get all my ratings though, the 1,500hr ATP rule will be in effect and I might be able to get hired at a regional by the time I'm in my early 30's, probably after the "hiring boom."
I'm afraid that if I roll the dice and lose, the opportunity costs of not having pursued a business job will come back to haunt me. At the same time, if I find myself in a dead end business job making regional pilot pay, and being miserable well that can be unpleasant to.
I've put together a few plans.
A.) Take whatever jobs I can get and finance my flight training over the next several years. Don't worry about my age. Have fun. Be content with making a career as a regional captain or a major career FO. All I want is to have a modest house and a decent QOL one day (like everyone, right?).
B.) Go into the business world now and just try and make the best out of something that is so unfamiliar to me. Maybe take a job at a small regional bank and hope to be a district manager one day.
C.) Go back to school and get a Ph.D in history. History is another passion although its not as high on the chart as aviation. I'd only want to lecture in a college. I'm not even sure I like lecturing.
I've already written to much. I'd appreciate anyone's advice whether you've been through what I'm going through or are in the same predicament. I see so many people say that they took one look at the salaries and QOL of regional pilots and went immediately to a desk but I'm finding this a much, much harder decision to make. I need to make a decision soon though because right now I'm directionless. Thank you for reading.