I remember my first day of primary school. It was scary and I was nervous. My first day of flight school was the same.

Although I wasn’t scared of the big kids, or the dreaded word ‘detention’ that had been brought up in serious kindy-discussions, I was nervous about flying a plane. But I was even more nervous about not enjoying it.

I would call myself a frequent-flyer. I am not faithful enough to any airline to have a platinum membership card or access to any lounges, but due to a scattered family and love of travel I do fly a lot. I am quite content with a window-seat and love a long 40,000ft catnap (pun totally intended).

I have sat in a cockpit before and loved it. I loved the novelty of the headset and ridiculous amount of buttons, I loved the feeling of the wind in the small plane, but mostly I loved the view. I really love being in the sky.

My love of flying did not guarantee that I would love flying. I was about to find out whether or not my dream career really was my dream career.

Aerostar is one of the few flight schools in Adelaide, and so far they had been incredibly helpful with answering my wanna-be-pilot queries and sending me email advice. But I still couldn’t help the butterflies in my stomach that had not waited until take-off to take flight.

Sian welcomed me straight away, introducing me to the other Aerostar staff and directing me to the complimentary tea and coffee. She then sat down with me where I first had the chance to speak to someone about how I could become a pilot. Her positivity was encouraging and I could not help but be excited for not only my first flight, but the potential future I could have in aviation.

We entered the hangar and went through the pre-flight checks. She directed me to the left-hand seat and we were ready to fly. As we entered the runway my excitement grew. Even though I would not be taking-off today, I would soon be in the sky.

As we took off my nerves faded. After we had ascended Sian handed over to me, and I was in control.

I was flying a plane.

I think passionate midwives have a moment when they see a big blood-stained head crown from ungodly places, and passionate firefighters have a moment when they successfully save a life from vicious flames. I had a blood-free,  fire-free moment which made me realise what I want to do with my life.

I am going to be a pilot.