“I’m free to see a whole new perspective.”

Ashwat Chidambaram

“Ever since I was a child, I’ve always loved aviation. It started off with paper and remote control airplanes. When I came to high school, I found out that I was old enough to fly, so I started to fly before I even knew how to drive. Nothing really inspired me to get into aerospace; I just liked aviation. I started my pilot license around sophomore year and I’ve been flying on Sundays ever since. Currently, I’m a student solo certified private pilot, which is just one step away from becoming a private pilot. Cessna is the staple aircraft for student pilots, so I fly the Cessna 172 at the Livermore airport. My favorite part about flying is when I’m at the peak elevation and I can just let go as the plane flies itself and take a moment to look around. That’s the moment when I feel like everything is in control and I’m free to see a whole new perspective. Since I am solo certified, I can fly on my own whenever I want. When you’re training, you usually fly local, so the farthest I’ve flown is Sacramento. For me, I’m not scared but my parents are. My mom’s always protective of me, my dad says, ‘go explore,’ and for me, I’m not really afraid.”