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Hi, my name is Steven and I want to share part of my story with you. Why I have decided to start a scholarship fund for this gifted young man and hopefully many more after him. I started my pursuit of helicopter flight at the age of 28 and it has been one of the, if not the most rewarding decisions I have ever made. However like all good things it did not come without a price. As some of you may know aviation training is very expensive and there are not many options when it comes to funding and even less when it comes to scholarships. Like many before me I had to work multiple jobs to survive and make ends meet but it was never enough. At the age of 30 I went bankrupt and ended up broke sleeping on a friend’s attic floor so I could continue to fly and earn my wings. I do not regret one day of it and stories like this are ever common in this industry. I see a need there and with your help I am going to change that. The young man you will read about below is one of the hardest workers I have ever met and has NO IDEA I am doing this for him. He is blocked from the content here and on all public forums so this can be a true surprise. This scholarship is a Christmas gift. I am asking you all to look past our own needs and help someone realize there dream.
Just over a year ago, Drake Larson walked into my office with passion in his heart and a dream to fly a Life Flight helicopter and making a difference in someone’s life. Like many aviators before him, Drake has dreamed of becoming a helicopter pilot since he was a young boy.
When Drake first came to me and said he had a college savings account that he wanted to use for flight training, I didn’t ask the details just laid out a road map and we got to work. I quickly noticed he was a natural pilot and well on his way to becoming a world class aviator! He absorbed the information like a sponge and at a truly unbelievable rate. Drake has earned his FAA Private Pilot License by successfully meeting the FAA minimum requirement of 40 hours with ease; almost like he had done it before. Needless to say, I was more than pleased with him. As a reward for his amazing accomplishment, I took him on a flight through one of the nations busiest airspace’s, New York City. It was shortly after this; Drake gave me the bad news. Drake was trying to sell his car to raise funds to complete his training, due to the fact that he has ran out of funding. I think I was more disappointed than he was. Drake had to quit flying shortly after that in the spring of 2014.
Unlike most educational institutions, aviation training is not something one can get an education loan for. Scholarships are small and thousands of people compete for those that are available. With your help, I AM going to change that. I am going to give Drake wings and we need your help. It’s going to cost Drake an additional $100,000 to finish his training and see his dream become a reality. Will you help me help him!?
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