Caroline Cusick, BS ‘19

Through her dedication to flying which started at a young age, she is working towards her dream while continuing to learn more about her craft.

Caroline’s passion for flying grew from a brief conversation she had with her dad when she was younger and told him that she wanted to be a flight attendant. To this, he responded “go big and be the pilot instead.” These words sparked something in her that she has not been able to let go of since. She soon began going to camp every summer and learning how to work with airplanes. Fast forward to her freshman year of college. Like many incoming freshmen, Caroline was not sure what she wanted to major in. She tried out nursing for a while and after a year realized this was not the field for her. It did not feel right. It was right about this time that she was having a vocational crisis. Going into her sophomore year she decided to declare a major in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and Marketing. On her first day of class as a business student, she had Mr. Foster. He was able to set her up with a flight instructor. The rest is now history.

Having now found a way to combine her passion with school, Caroline began getting involved with flight training while earning her business degree. After graduation, she interned at a company and did sales for them for about a year and a half. After this, the company she works for now recruited her for their flight support department. This is more in line with the career Caroline eventually wants to pursue. Today, she works for a charter jet operator. Her favorite part about the job according to her is that “even though I am not in an aircraft, I am still learning and working on things every day that will make me a better pilot. This is helping me get to where I want to be.”

When asked what advice she would give to her younger self, Caroline said that she would tell herself to keep planning and making goals, but also have a better understanding that those goals most likely will not happen the way she imagined them, and that is ok. Moving forward, she hopes to one day fulfill her dream of becoming a pilot by continuing to work and learn as much as she can.

By Catherine Edwards '21