Several students around OHS are involved in fun activities outside of school such as sports, music and much more, but have you ever met someone who is learning how to fly planes? Well, maybe you have and you didn’t know it. Zoe Simeral (12) is currently working toward getting her pilot’s licence, as she is planning to pursue a career as a pilot, and this is one of the steps she has to take to get there.
“To get your private pilot’s license, your PPL, you have to get 40 flight hours and get training for specific maneuvers,” Simeral said. “So you have to do ground study…and then your physical flying study, and you have to take a written test and a practical flight exam, and there is an oral test as well.”
Simeral has known that she has wanted to be a pilot for a couple of years now and just over the summer she put that plan into action. She did a discovery flight and is now enrolled in flight school.
“…The reason that I did the discovery ride was to see if I actually even liked it, and I did so that’s important, but I have family that have given me the opportunity to do this, so I’m very lucky to have that,” Simeral said.
Like many people, Simeral is inspired by the people in her life. When it comes to flying, she looks up to the pilots she has in her own family and is very grateful for them.
“…My aunt and uncle have inspired me but also just given me the opportunity. So they are in their sixties and they are both pilots,” Simeral said. “They own a business that does aircraft maintenance, they buy and sell planes, and then they run a flight school.”
Though she believes this is a wonderful experience, there are downsides. The main problem for Simeral is the location in which her school is located.
“My flight school is in Wisconsin, so I kind of do it in bulk,” Simeral said. “I’ll go up for like two weeks or a week and a half…I don’t go up there much.”
Because she is so far away from her school, Simeral can sometimes feel discouraged because of the fact that she can’t fly very often to keep up her skill.
“I haven’t flown a plane in like almost four months…” Simeral said. “I’ve really just been relying on doing written, knowledge stuff, but when you feel like you’re kind of losing it, the skill, it can be discouraging.”
With her graduating early, even though she is far away now, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Simeral and soon the wait to fly a plane again will be over.
“I’m planning on moving to Wisconsin late February, early March, with my aunt and uncle, and then I will eventually have a job at that airport…” Simeral said.
Though she has found her path now, at first, Simeral lacked encouragement to go into the piloting field and didn’t see it as a realistic option for her. However, now that she has been presented with this opportunity, she wants to help encourage others to follow their dreams as well.
“Airlines need more pilots,” Simeral said. “If you’re a woman, don’t feel discouraged — you can do it.”
![Julian Jackson (10) work with his father to make custom sweatshirts. “I really want to make it [bigger] because right now we make the hoodies in his basement and I eventually do want to make it a lot bigger. I want to get an actual store or an actual place outside the house and start selling them outside to other people who don't know who we are because we mostly sell them to family and friends and stuff like that…” Jackson said. “But I eventually want to get it to people who don't know who we are…” They started the business a few years ago.](https://myohsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_3386-1068x1200.jpeg)
