Man, I am one lucky son of a gun.

I work for a good contract regional, live in base am pretty much the bottom line holder, am currently 25 and am sitting in the right seat at AWAC, loving life Here is the story.

Started flying and working at the local FBO when I was 16 and in high school. Got the private ticket at 17 by working for 50% and paying for it with savings 50%. At that point my parents helped me out with the Instrument, but I still worked at the flight school. All told I paid 2000 for both the instrument and private. After graduating high school, I went to an instate aviation college, and was pressured into flying at the big named school, and the commercial cost 10k. At the same time, I still worked at the FBO and paid for half, and took out loans for half. The CFI cost me 8k, which I was only able to pay for 3k of it. So I was up to about 10k in loans. I returned to the FBO and worked full time as an instructor and went to school. I left when I was a Junior (dumbest thing I have ever done) and went to California for a good paying CFI gig. Out there, I did the Comm. Multi, CFII and MEI, all on the company dime. I paid off the student loans from both college and flight training, which cost me about 18k. After doing that for 2 years, I was able to come back to the east coast with zero debt. I got hired at AWAC in 2007 and had to live with my parents for the first year, then on second year pay I was able to move into base, and life is great. I met the girl of my dreams; she understand this job can suck, but the flexibility of living in base and being a line holder makes all the difference. I don't make enough for what I do, but I make the most of it as it now.

Overall the job is great for me. I have a great group of friends, a girlfriend whom I love, and a job that I enjoy. Currently I'm going back to school, full time (online) to prepare for the future. Life is good overall.