I decided not to study at university in favour of the 'working and saving' approach to my flying. Even though I have some pretty poor A-Levels (C and E, I have my reasons, which I don't want to get into) I had managed to convince myself that I would still be Ok finding an airline job once I had my licenses.
After waving goodbye to all of my friends as they set off to university, to a new city, to independence, to new friends, to new lives, I set out trying to find a job, still telling myself I made the right decision about university. I signed onto the dole in september and it was the worst experience of my life.
It wasnt until April this year that I actually got that phone call. I was offered a seasonal job at Newcastle Airport working as an aircraft cleaner. At first I thought it was brilliant, getting a job at the airport, working on aircraft etc and don't get me wrong I have enjoyed some aspects of it and have made some good friends.
But after a month or so, the 12 hour night shifts started to take their toll on me and my aircraft cleaner job became nothing more than a cleaning job in an understaffed company with a large workload every night.
The last 8 months have been a very good in terms of character building and life experience however, I'm not really earning enough to seriously fund commercial pilot training, plus my contract runs out in October anyway, so I would probably just go straight back on the dole then.
Last month, I decided to apply to university again for September, and it wasnt a case of should but want to go this year. Yes, I have a career ambition but I am also 19 and would like to enjoy the experience of university and at the end of the day, I will have a better looking CV as a result of it too. I've decided that I'm in no particular hurry to get into the RHS. I'd much rather take it slower and savour the experience of my journey into the RHS. Some people may not agree with this approach, but I do and thats whats important.
GeorgEGNT