by Taylor Massey
Out of more than 1,500 applicants, two Republic High School students have been selected as recipients of a scholarship from the Flight Academy Scholarship program. Senior John Birdwell and junior Peyton Socia will be able to use this scholarship to train and receive their private pilot’s license this summer from a partnering university.
Each year, the scholarship program awards 200 full-cost scholarships to students in JROTC at their high schools across the United States. However, students also have the opportunity to be selected as an alternate. A cadet on the alternate list will be considered for the scholarship if a recipient on the primary list has dropped their spot. Both Birdwell and Socia were selected as alternates and placed on the primary list soon after.
Birdwell learned about the scholarship program from JROTC instructor Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Sanders.
“Colonel Sanders told me I had a chance to fly and introduced me to the scholarship,” he said. “All of the students in the Ground School class have this opportunity offered to them but not all take it. It’s competitive and hard.”
In addition to the RHS requirement of being in Ground School, all applicants must have a 3.0 minimum GPA, take an aviation aptitude test, and demonstrate strong character.
“For the scholarship, I had to apply online and take a couple of tests for it,” Socia said. “I had to take a test almost like the ACT where I was timed and had a series of mental equations I had to work through quickly but thoroughly.”
In the past, Republic students have won the same scholarship. Former recipients have attended schools across the nation to receive their licenses, from the University of Central Missouri to Oklahoma State University and Liberty University. Birdwell and Socia plan to use their scholarship and training this summer to benefit them post-high school.
“I’m going to use this scholarship to make myself a better all-around airman someday,” Birdwell said. “After high school, I have an enlistment contract with the U.S. Air Force as a loadmaster. I will be leaving for basic training on July 11. I feel it will help me to be more valuable to the Air Force.”
However, students receiving this scholarship do not have to commit to any branch of the military after their program ends.
“I’m just excited to go and get my license,” Socia said. “One to be able to brag, and two so that I can mark something off of my goals list. I want to either go to college for lacrosse, or I want to go to college to push towards my career of becoming a commercial pilot.”
For Socia, winning the scholarship meant something on a personal level as well.
“I don’t come from any sort of wealth or anything close to being rich,” he said. “I want to show others and I want to prove to myself that anything is possible when you set your mind on it.”