Reflections on the Learning Curve

Once again, it has been a while since I have posted. I got my CFI license on the 5th of August, a few weeks after my last post. To my joy, I then got hired here at Hesston College as a flight instructor intern. That's when the learning curve began. Shortly after I was hired, the new aviation freshmen at HC arrived for "Fly Larks Week." This is when all of the first year aviation students arrive a week early to get started with their flying. I can liken it to aviation boot camp. The week consisted of days starting at 7 and ending at 4. The students were divided into groups and would rotate to 3 different stations every day. There would be 2 ground school lessons and a flight, with 3 students to a group. The entire week I was assigned to the flight station. This is where the learning curve began.

Keep in mind I had only been a Certified Flight Instructor for little less than a week, and I was now having to instruct real students who were paying for flight training. And while I had "teaching experience" during my CFI training, the pressure wasn't quite so real as this. I took a deep breath and dived into the mayhem. I wont lie, by the end of the first day I fell into bed thinking "what have I gotten myself into?" As soon as I finished flying with the first group of students in the morning, the second was ready to go. I had about 15 minutes to gulp down a sandwich before I was back in the plane. This continued for the rest of the week.

That first week I got nearly 15 hours of flight time. Now if there are any professional pilots out there reading this, 15 hours is probably one shift for you. But keep in mind that I was a starry eyed CFI, green in the pants, who was now getting paid to fly. And while it was extremely exhausting, I was finally getting the flight time I wanted!

When I look back on that first week I'm amazed at how little I knew: Not in terms of flight knowledge, but in terms of teaching. I had read about teaching methods and how students learn; this was just text in my training. Now I was actually seeing breathing examples of people I had to train. These weren't just "practice students" anymore. This was the real deal, and it was my responsibility to train them to the best of my ability. As I continue to grow in my CFI position it becomes easy to be discouraged (yes CFIs are human too). But when I reflect back on that first week, I realize how far I have come since that day. And I am grateful.