Career Planning Research Project

Introduction

At the moment I am planning on becoming a pilot. The reason I am interested in pursuing this career is because I have been traveling all of my life pretty much going back and forth between parents, I have always found it interesting. I remember being a little girl and they would take me to the front of the plane and show me the cockpit, I always thought it looked so cool with all the buttons and lights. I always loved looking out down at the cities especially at night, i bet it looks much cooler from the front of the plane. Although this career option did not match the personality tests that I took I think that it will be a good choice for me.

Career Information

What they do: Airline and commercial pilots mostly fly and navigate airplanes, and helicopters. They usually have irregular work schedules, often including overnight layovers. The job of an airline pilot includes transporting passengers and cargo. There are disadvantages of being a pilot, they often experience fatigue and jet lag, also during flights the pilots work in small teams being close to each other for a good amount of time. Airline pilots fly an average of 75 hours per month and work an additional 150 hours per month performing other work activities.

Requirements and Qualifications: To become an airline pilot you need a bachelor? degree and the FAA-issued Airline Transport Pilot certificate or in other words the ATP.

Earnings and Outlook:
The median annual wage for airline pilots was $137, 330 in May of 2017. Pilots are required to retire at the age of 65.

Employment:
The industries that employ people in this career field are Scheduled Air Transportation, Federal Executive Branch, Non Scheduled Air Transportation, Support Activities for Air Transportation, and Technical and Trade schools.

College Information

Who they are: University of Central Arkansas is located in Conway, Arkansas. I picked this college because i am pretty familiar with the campus and it is close to home but not to close. The enrollment is 13, 255. The setting is urban.

What they expect: the minimum requirements for admission are minimum high school grade point average of 2.5, minimum 17 Act composite or 930 on SAT, minimum 15 ACT or SAT equivalent in all individual subject sub-scores, and completion of high school graduation or GED requirements. The annual tuition is $7,889. As a freshmen students do have to live on campus.

What do they offer: I might major in physics and astronomy. The skills that i will have to be good at are Mathematics, problem solving and scientific reasoning, technical knowledge, and good study habits. It is recommended to complete math all the way through pre-calculus.

Financial Aid Information: One scholarship that i plan applying for is the Academic Challenge Scholarship. The only requirement is a 19 on the ACT in which i already have a higher score than that. The reward is two thousand dollars the first year, three thousand dollars the second year, four thousand dollars the third year and five thousand dollars the fourth year. Another scholarship i might apply for is the Governor's Distinguished Scholarship, it depends on if i can make a high enough score on the ACT. The requirements are at least a 32 on the ACT and a 3.5 GPA. The award amount would be ten thousand dollars per year. I will probably have to take out student loans also which are going to suck to pay back. But unfortunately my parents will not provide any help with college because we are broke.

Counter-Argument: There are a few concerns that i have with becoming a pilot. I will not be home a lot of the time so if i want to have a family that is going to suck because i will be gone all of the time. Also pilots have to sit for a long amount of time in a confined area which i am not very fond of. Another career that I have been debating on has been being a math teacher but that would not be a good choice because they get paid very little plus I believe that teachers will be replaced with computers very soon. College might not be the best choice for me because of the money situation but i will be able to figure it out. A college that might be better to attend is one that focuses more on aviation.

Conclusion:

As you can see being a pilot seems pretty great and is a great fit for me even though it did not match the personality test. I have learned that school is going to take a long time and a lot of money but I believe that I can make it through. This is a good career choice for me considering that i know the drill since I have flown all over the country. I also think I will enjoy it because pilots don't usually have to deal with many people which is great in my opinion.

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