04/04/2024
Meet Julia.
Growing up in Ukraine with my mom and sister was far from an easy life for us. When we moved to Germany I had a dream of becoming a flight attendant. Unfortunately, in Europe, there’s a height requirement. A short time later I moved to the U.S. and knew another woman, shorter than me, and she was able to get a flight attendant job. I excitedly applied to an airline. They offered me the job on the spot and I started training two weeks later. I loved my job because it provided a way for me to see my family and opened up the rest of the world to me too. After several years I began to wonder if there was more. I never thought I had the opportunity to be a pilot. That wasn’t a possibility ever planted in my head, but while on a Frankfurt layover talking with one of the pilots I realized-babygirl, if he can be a pilot, you can be a pilot! That moment changed the course of my life. I took a discovery flight October 2018 and thought “wow, wow, wow.” Initially, my pilot journey was not an experience I enjoyed, then Covid happened. I now found myself broke, in debt, out of a job and confused. So, I went to Guam for six months where my days were spent considering what my life would be like and my nights were spent living my best life!! I made the decision to continue with my training and became even more motivated to move forward. I switched from a part 141 to part 61 and that’s when I truly fell in love with flying. For me the experience was what I imagined training to be…fun. I flew with friends everywhere for those $100 burgers and felt more at ease. Here I am now with a training date for an airline and soon enough I’ll be a pilot for an airbus! I could never have imagined this incredible life experience but I am so thankful for my mom’s constant support, encouragement and her instilling independence in me. Because my mom let my wings grow, I can now fly. Thank you mom ❤️