Jayme Pollard: a flight to success
By Olivia Kerber
Picture of airplane cockpit taken by Jayme Pollard
Senior Jayme Pollard has chosen a distinctly unique career path that not very many people, let alone women, choose: piloting. Pollard is well in the right direction, participating in Tulsa Tech’s Private Pilot Program her junior year, and flying through a private school called Tulsa Flight Training in her senior year. This is all before she finally moves on next year to fly out of Spartan School of Aeronautics in Jenks, Oklahoma. Not only this, but she currently has her Student Pilot’s Certificate, which is an immense achievement for a high school student.
Even when she was younger, Pollard had always known that she wanted to fly.
“I've been around aviation my whole life: my uncle is a pilot, my grandpa was a pilot, my other uncle is in the air force [and] my aunt was in the air force,” Pollard stated. “I grew up going to air shows and flying in small aircraft, so it just kinda came naturally to me. I knew I wanted to do that all along.”
However, Pollard always knowing her true calling didn’t prevent some hiccups along the way. For a brief period of time she switched career paths in middle school. She was embarrassed that she wanted to be a pilot, and others expressed aversion to her future line of work. Nevertheless, Pollard came to the conclusion that even though her calling was different, that didn’t make her calling wrong.
“I think my normal friend group that I've always had … nobody gets it. I feel very different. A lot of my friends want to do nursing, or other [career paths] like that [which] are more common.”
Not only has Pollard’s social circle held different aspirations, but she struggles to find girls like her in her own flight program.
“[Flight school] is primarily men, they take around two to three girls every few months. … I was the only girl in my program.”
When Pollard expresses her goals to others, she faces prejudice for her career goal of being a pilot. Others just don’t believe her.
“A lot of people’s go-to is ‘Oh, you want to be a pilot? You will probably just end up being a flight attendant or something.’ I think people just aren’t used to seeing women [flying planes] so they don’t understand.” Pollard asserts, “They just don't think [women] can, but we can. Since people don’t see it very often they just think we can’t do it.”
Despite these challenges, Pollard has chosen to never waver in her journey to being a pilot. Ultimately, Pollard's goal is to fly for commercial airlines, and she is currently in the American Airlines Cadette Program in addition to all of her current flight schooling.
Pollard declares why she persists in her love for flying, stating, “You feel free. … You look around and you see clouds and blue skies; you look down and everything is just so tiny. I feel so powerful when I’m up there—I feel in control.”
Pollard has had some experiences constrain her in her career path, yet, she still carries on. Pollard’s career trajectory has not only built her up as a pilot, but also as a person. Pollard, through experiencing this adversity, has a greater sense of self and knows who she is even better. In spite of everything, Pollard serves as inspiration for other women at Owasso High School, especially those who aspire to be in male-dominated fields!