getting my wings

After 22 tests, 46 days of training, 3 training flights, 8 practical evaluations, and countless hours of sleep lost, I've finally graduated from flight attendant training. *sigh of relief* It was much more difficult than I anticipated, likely due to the combination of being away from home for such a long period time plus the content and speed in which we covered the material. To sum it up, flight attendant training is no joke. But, God clearly wanted me here and I'm so thankful he brought me to this point.

The last week of flight attendant training was, well, intense. We had 2 aircraft tests, customer service validations, emergency management validations, door proficiency finals, emergency equipment preflight validations, and our final exam. It was the culmination of 7 weeks of information crammed into 3 days of testing and assessing whether or not we really got it.

Thursday afternoon was our final exam. After completing the assessment and pressing 'submit' for the last time, a wave of relief washed over me. I sunk into my seat with a sigh, realizing that I did it. I made it through flight attendant training. It's hard to explain what that moment felt like, but needless to say, it was wonderful.

Friday was a combination of elation, liberation, and exhaustion. We arrived early to the graduation venue in full uniform to rehearse and afterwards eagerly awaited the arrival of our friends and family. The venue was beautiful and the ceremony was a tear jerker. As with any graduation, we had a few speakers that motivated us to go out into the world (or sky, in this case) and be the best you can be. They spoke of our accomplishments and what we went through to get to this point.

Towards the end, we crossed the stage and were presented our wings. My airline does the pinning of the wings differently than most other airlines. Typically, the instructors will pin students wings as they walk across the stage, but we were given the opportunity to choose whomever we wanted to pin our wings after the ceremony. Without a shadow of a doubt, I knew I wanted my dad to be the one to pin my wings.

It was such a special moment being reunited with my parents and Kelly, celebrating this accomplishment and being able to finally head home!

There was a short reception after the ceremony that was catered with brunch foods. A perfect ending to an amazing morning.

As thrilling as it was to have gotten to graduation, it was also slightly bittersweet. I am blessed to have been able to develop the friendships I did at training. I've spent so many hours with my fellow trainees (now flight attendants :) studying, learning, stressing, and just living life together. I could never explain what flight attendant training is like to someone and have them fully comprehend. You have to experience it yourself...and that's what happened within my class. We experienced something together that few people understand. We locked arms when things got tough and helped one another succeed. I'm so grateful for the camaraderie our class has developed, even after 7 weeks of madness. Congrats to everyone in my class and I'll see y'all in NYC!

My roomie Ashley and I

My amazing instructors and I

Finally, I don't think I could write a post about graduating without saying thank you to those of you who stuck with me through these last 7 weeks of training. You know who you are and I praise God for you and for the support you gave. I certainly needed it! Without your reassurance and encouragement, I don't know that I would've been able to make it to this point.

Well friends, there's not much more to say aside from the fact that I'm now officially a flight attendant. Stick around for future posts on figuring out this crazy new career which will include: crashpads, navigating NYC, my first flight, and plenty more haphazard adventures.

Welcome aboard :)