Streets To The Sky
Meet Connor.
Life growing up for him was always an adventure. He was always on the move doing something bold, risky and exciting. Life was never boring and that’s the way he liked it. This stemmed from his crazy, big family who loved to travel and try new things. They always pushed Connor to take up new hobbies to keep him busy. There was no such thing as a lazy day for Connor.
As a little boy, in the midst of all his outdoor activities, Connor would always stop to watch the street sweepers go by. It was his favorite time of the week and he found it to be so entertaining. He would stand on the porch or at the window and watch them go by. The swishing sound, the movement of the sweepers and the clean streets they left behind was incredible to him. He thought whoever got to drive them was so lucky. When Connor grew up, he wanted to be a street sweeper.
Connor’s parents thought his fascination with street sweepers was so funny. Most kids want to be police officers or lawyers, he wanted to brush the streets. They would even give into his imagination and pretend his toy car was the big sweeper, and make the streets in their neighborhood “messy” for him to clean up.
Once Connor got older he realized he was way too adventurous to sit in a truck sweeping streets each week. He wanted each day to be new and exciting. In high school he was involved in just about everything. From the band, to sports, to student government. He wanted this to be the same once he went off to college and started a career.
Choosing a college was extremely easy for Connor. Growing up in Scottsdale, ASU always seemed like the best choice since it was only a half hour away. Once the time came for him to move to Tempe, Connor fit right in. He began joining every club on campus and even became the President of The Residence Hall Association. He loved the social aspect and all the organizations he was involved in, but wasn’t quite sure about his studies.
Coming into college Connor’s problem was that he liked too many things. How would he decide on just one to be his major? He ended up going with biomedical studies in hopes he could work in a fast paced hospital. He thought maybe this would fit his personality and each day would certainly be different. Connor soon realized this was not the major for him, but he decided he would try it out for his whole freshman year.
Once sophomore year rolled around, Connor knew he needed to make a change. One day it hit him as he was traveling back to Tempe from a vacation in New York. He watched in amazement as his plane went from the clouds to the runway in a swift motion. He loved the rush of the airport and flying to new places. He wanted to be a pilot, it was the perfect job for him. It was always an adventure, he could travel, and meet so many people! He immediately enrolled in flight school.
Much to his surprise, his first day of flight school he was already flying a plane. They pushed him right into it and he fell in love. The feeling of floating in the clouds and being in control was unlike anything he’s experienced.
2 years later, Connor has finally finished “getting his wings” and is officially a pilot. He just got his certification to teach new students how to fly. It is crazy that that once was him just a short time ago. The next step is to get a job with the airlines. His dream would be to work for Delta and travel the world.
Connor’s advice to people is to not get discouraged if you don’t like the path you chose at first, because there is a right path for you, some times you have to find it. Maybe it will be in the sky like he found it.
Connor is so thankful he found a career where he could truly “spread his wings” and let his imagination “fly.”
