Senior Interview

Senior Interview

This last Friday, our aviation orientation class was mentored by a class of seniors. We were split up into groups and the seniors spoke about their majors.

My senior majored previously in architecture but after a few years working in the field he decided that it wasn't for him. He had a sister who was attending USD for the aviation program, and had been very impressed by the program when he visited her in the spring. After much prompting by his sister who was now contracted by the military at that point, he decided to come to USD for commercial aviation.

After a few months here at USD and having taken a couple of flying classes, he decided to switch to the Helicopter program that had taken up his interest. He was a new member of Army ROTC so the switch was very convenient and cost effective because of the scholarship he received which gave him a stipend, and helped to pay for most of his flying cost.

Although our majors are different as I am majoring in Meteorology and Air Traffic Control the interview was still very helpful in the long run. We discussed how we came to come to USD, and how our childhood helped to shape our chosen path. My senior had been shaped by his sister coming here and has always had his head turned toward the sky when an airplane was flying overhead. Whereas I had been introduced to airplanes by my father and grandparents as a child, when we would take trips down to the Airport and watch the airplanes land and takeoff.

Besides for reminiscing about our past since we wouldn't take many of the same classes we talked about the few classes that we knew for sure that we would both have to take. Those classes include those along the lines of Avit 102, Meteorology, some programing classes, and the general education classes. I was told to take my Spanish and math classes on the base especially math on up from pre-calculus as the teachers grade really hard and many people fail their first time through the course. We discussed what classes stink like English and airport planning and what rock, like Miles class for meteorology even if it is really early in the morning.

After we talked as much as we could about the classes we knew we shared. We discussed the weather and how it affects life up here in Canada. He told me about how not only is the winter miserable but the wind also causes a lot of issues for flying and everyday life. I was informed about the no fly November because of this and the cold, and it makes me a little concerned for what is coming. Now I know that I need as many warm clothes as possible with wind breakers, snow boots, and layers, layers, layers. Having come from down south it should be an interesting first winter.

After all said and done, even though I was a little skeptical of how much use I would get from talking with someone of a different major, it