Hey everyone,
My name is Alexis and I am 26 years old, I will be sharing my experience with ATP starting July 22, 2024 at KLGB, but first let me share why and how I got here in the first place. By the way, sorry for the long read.
My first ever experience with aviation started when I was about 7 or 8 years old, when I first glanced at a Southwest Airlines 737 parked at the gate before my very first flight. I was in awe seeing this in person for the first time and not just flying 10,000 feet above my house, it was a surreal moment and I still remember that feeling. That flight was from ONT to SJC, a little over an hour flight. From there I was fascinated and hooked with aviation and everything about it. Iāve only had a handful of flights during my childhood but remember them very vividly, and now I try to find an excuse to fly whenever possible since I love it so much. As a kid I knew I was a long ways away to do this āwhen I grow upā. Then I discovered Microsoft flight simulator X (pretty cringy I know), seeing this game for the first time and knowing its existence, I made my mom buy me a laptop capable of playing it (I thank her for it to this day). Then as time went on, Iād play this game every once and awhile when I have time. Then when I was 14-16, I figured that becoming a pilot was too expensive and unobtainable in my familyās financial situation and I knew that they couldnāt afford to get me flight lessons. So I put that dream in the back burner while I go through High School and searching for an alternate career path. Iāve been working since I was 16, my first job was at a gas station and it taught me to have a good work ethic and habit throughout high school. Though I wasnāt the best student and I didnāt try my best until baseball season came around and it gave me a reason to have decent grades. Then I graduated high school.
From this point I was working full time as a gas station clerk near a tourist attraction (The Grand Canyon). When I was working one day, I was browsing the internet looking through social media, like a normal teenager would. I see this ad for ATP Flight School, and I was curious what this was about. Looking through the website between customers, trying to read the ābecome an airline pilotā section of the website and seeing that it had financing available. Possibly making my actual childhood dream come true! I then messaged the admissions email and explained my situation, I didnāt go to college, I didnāt go to the military, I emailed them in the hopes my job qualifies as a professional work experience. The next day they emailed me saying that unfortunately my current job didnāt qualify as such. I was deeply disappointed in the outcome and thought I was never gonna fulfill my dream. I didnāt fully understand what professional work was considered but I didnāt bother asking since I was already disappointed. I then put my dream aside once again, knowing that itās probably never happening. I was unhappy at this current job, being a gas station employee and I wanted something new, I left this job at 22. I turned towards Best Buy, it was new and exciting and I was learning al sorts of new things technology wise. I was always excited to talk about these types of stuff to customers and teaching them how to use it in their daily lives. I was considered one of the best at sales at this store. I moved from part time to full time in a matter of months, got a few raises, got paid more than my old job and didnāt have to scrub toilets every night. Then I was promoted to a shift lead with store keys and master codes to lock up the store at night. At this point Iāve been with Best Buy for 3 years. Everything at this point was good, I had a full time job with advancement opportunities, a fully owned manufactured home, and I had recently gotten married. My life was decent. Then out of nowhere I started saying to myself ānever regretā. I was giving my self this sense of incompleteness, like something is missing. Then one morning I heard the faint roars of an airliner passing through the skies at cruising altitude. I instantly muttered ānever regretā.
I went to ATPās website again and looked at the prerequisites to enrollment. I emailed admissions once again explaining my situation and saying that I worked for Best Buy for 3 years as shift lead with store keys and master codes I was basically a supervisor. Of course I had my doubts and all, trying to manage expectations. The next morning I received an email from the admissions team saying that I qualified to apply for the ACPP program and sent me an application. I filed it out, then they prompted me to call them for next steps. I called and they wanted to do a pre enrollment interview. And I never been more nervous in my life, after about 15-20 min on the phone he told me that admissions will email me if I continue to the next step. And after about a week I got the confirmation email that I can continue to the next step and getting my 1st class medical. After I got my medical and knowing that this is actually a possibility now, at this point I told my bosses that I will be leaving Best Buy to pursue my dream. Then soon after I had scheduled my admissions flight for October 29th, that went very well and the entire experience was phenomenal and professional and sets the stage. I asked my instructor if she was afraid of failing. She said āfailure is not an optionā. Those words also stick with me. My last day of work was January 1st, literally making a New Yearās resolution to better myself and to appreciate this opportunity I have and not take it for granted like I did during high school. At this point I was living alone with my wife in Northern AZ, the nearest ATP training center was in Phoenix AZ. I do not have any family living there so it would be harder to live there in general. So my mom who lives in LA told me that I can move in with her while I attend school rent free with my wife. I was hesitant but I ultimately chose to do that and my wife fully supports me through this process. So we went ahead and sold the manufactured home for a good chunk of change. I was able to pay off ALL of my debts and then have enough to live off of and have the enrollment fee. We officially moved out January 16th and once I paid my debts, I waiting for my credit to increase since it updates once a month. When I was comfortable with my credit score I then applied for the Sallie Mae loan without a co-signer. Believe me when I said this was the worst time for me. The uncertainty to get approved or denied, I literally uprooted my life to get to this point and getting denied will absolutely crush me beyond words. The next morning at 5 am I get an email saying that I was approved for the WHOLE amount. I was ecstatic, I wanted to do this my whole life and now everything is coming together. On February 20th, the same day, I called admissions and reserved my first day, July 22nd. Itās a long time to wait but itās a blessing in disguise, I can complete all of my written exams before my start date. They did give me the option to schedule for an earlier date, but for now Iāll focus on my writtens and when Iām done early Iāll then see if there is still an opening to get an earlier class date. I have already completed my PAR and private elevate classes and right now I am doing my instrument elevate class so I have some knowledge going in for my IRA Exam and studying for that. Everything is going very well so far. I canāt wait to see where my journey leads me.
Failure is not an option.
This has been my journey so far and Iām sorry if there is any holes in my story because Iām not a very good story teller so I mightāve just rambled. I do plan on updating this thread throughout my journey with not only ATP, but my aviation career. Thank you so much for reading.
Alexis Galvan
