I am a senior in high school and I know I want to fly for a living; I have loved aviation for a while now. My CFI told me about Riddle a few years ago and I went there for a summer camp. It was a great week and I was eager to attend their university come graduation. LONG story short, I have decided to attend one of my state's colleges and get a degree in Broadcast Meteorology and Mathematics. I have been flying out of a local FBO for 3 years now and have loved it. Great instruction and people! The claims of "get a major airline job right when you graduate (from ERAU)" lured me, though! A few days ago (much to my parents happiness!) I found this sight and a thread similar to my story; y'alls forewarning advice of attending a school like Riddle was kind of like the icing on the cake telling me not to go. Whoever said that even if an ERAU grad gets a job at regionals a year or two earlier then others, their pay wouldn't justify the amount of debt they would still be in, was what really caught my eye.
Now I can sleep at night knowing where I want to go to college. I know there is more to life than aviation so I plan on exploring those things in college! Haha. But, seeing as how I do still want to fly for a living, I am planning on still flying through my FBO which would be about an hour or so away.
Right now Im at about 230 TT and I just turned 18, so Im aiming to finish up my commercial before I graduate high school and do my CFI this summer. Im hoping Ill be able to instruct at the airport near campus. There aren't many instructors in my area, so Im thinking there would be a lot of business in a college town. After I graduate though, I plan on going to ATP (once again, because of y'alls influence and guidance!).
Wow, well I really didn't mean to go on this long! I have some more questions Im eager to ask but I have some tests to study for, so, once again, thanks for saving my parents and me from years of debt and steering me in the right direction! Oh, and aren't y'all proud my major(s) aren't concentrated on aviation? Haha.