Sekope Learns to Fly
By Sekope Tagilala, Spark Class of 2005
My name is Sekope Tagilala and I am going to be 14 years old next February. Last summer, I was offered a partial scholarship to attend a youth educational program called the SPARK program in Redwood City. This program was held at the Clifford School for the whole summer.
Along with 10 other students and 2 great tutors, we did apprenticeship programs that we had an interest in. My chosen apprentice field was to learn how to fly a plane because it has always been my dream to be a pilot. At first I didn't think it would be possible for them to arrange for flying lessons, but I was surprised when my SPARK coordinator told me that I would actually be flying a real plane. They hooked me up with a mentor and I thought he was the best mentor ever.
His name is Dave Zittin and he taught me various things about the structure of planes, the mechanics needed to make a plane fly and important information about how I can make my dream to be a pilot be a reality. I spent up to 2 hours per day with Dave for the first week, going over everything about flying and airplanes. When he first let me be the pilot, I was so excited. I couldn't believe I was actually doing it on my own. With Dave Zittin guiding me step by step, I took off, flew and landed the plane. It was an awesome feeling and made me seriously think about the idea of being a pilot in the future. Nothing beats the rush when I was amongst the clouds and looking down at the land below. The earth looks awesome from above and I felt like I was a king rising above in the clouds mastering my ship.
I enjoyed my apprenticeship and time at the SPARK program and think that these types of programs help youths make important decisions about their chosen career paths.
