Originally Posted by
HotMamaPilot
Go to college and get a degree in business, maybe even an mba. This will more than likely put you in a good job, making good money. I would imagine at this point, you may be about 28. Work for a couple of years, save money. Finally, at 30, if you still want to fulfill "childhood dreams", buy your own airplane and go and "punch some holes in the sky", when you want and where you want.
At 22, you should be going in a different direction than aviation (flying anyway). As a mother, this is what I am telling my kids, so no one jump on me as "negative". I am telling you this to help you.
Not so sure about the MBA idea... It's an extremely rough economy out there (yes, even outside aviation for you "lifers"). The days of MBAs and JDs graduating into a huge salary are in the past... Unless of courses you are graduating from the top of your class at Harvard or something.
A good backup degree would be one that is in demand. These would be degrees in medical (nursing in particular), engineering, etc.
To the OP - The key is to have no debt (or at least very minimal debt) when you are finished with your ratings. Like Pokey who posted above, I also came from humble beginnings, but was able to make it work without getting into debt. It wasn't easy, but I'm so glad I did it that way. You can also PM me if you want to talk further. Good luck to you!