Always The Minority

taking this path, hadn't been easy. i had next to zero knowledge when i jumped into this industry. i wasn't the stereotypical "my dad's a pilot", as you would find in flying school. but thank God for friends who were alike. the minorities amongst the majority in this tightly knit world.

there is something about flying that is so irresistable to me, that some people cannot comprehend. especially lady teachers (but this is not limiting to them only). i received some flak when i decided to quit university and pursue this licence. maybe they had some pretty nasty rendezous with pilots in their high days?

truthfully though, i guess they had envisioned me receiving a scroll for mechanical engineering. all because of my big mouth.

teachers always asked, "what are you gonna study after form6?". and if i said, "i wanna be a pilot", they would give me this face like "what the hell is a pilot?". the thing is, teachers expect you to proceed to university. full stop. no doing things out of the ordinary. unless of course you do really bad, and decided to be an entrepeneur and set up a stall selling ramli burger.

and there is no such option of "piloting" in the public tertiary education. so i also face this typical question countless times, "what university offers piloting?". been there before? tired of answering them with a speech, i decided i'd tell them i'm gonna study mech engineering. coz it was the closest to piloting in those public university forms @.@

they will never comprehend the fact that i had given up my would-be batchelor's in mech eng for a driver's licence. never. reactions are hillarious. but what's done is done. my life, my choice.

its sad how there is no room for exceptions. at the end of the day, people only want to see you get a scroll, and you're king just like that. a momentary feeling of pride they'd feel for you. then when the fizzle is out, back to the daily norms, and you could be regretting it for the rest of your life. i don't think its fair how society oppresses itself based on such age-old thinking. we've come a long way since the 50s, there are many other ways to be successful. don't make it a point to stay old-fashioned, just because you were forced to back then. else it'd be a never ending regressional cycle. plus with the abundant pointless degrees for who-knows-what and limitless universities springing out, there is gonna be a time when everyone successfully holds a batchelor(cert or human) with nowhere to go.

but did you know, piloting licence is recognized to be equivalent to a degree abroad? "but not in malaysia", you say? sijil luar negara lagi powerrr what...

from flying school, to the jets. to be more precise, the airbus, is gonna be worlds apart. how to endear, i wonder. i don't suppose they have a handbook for dummies out there? because the quick reference handbook, doesn't look so quick.