Exploring College Options for Future Pilots

In this episode of the Path to Pilot podcast, hosts Trevor and April Zawlocki discuss Trevor's journey towards becoming a commercial pilot. They explore the various college options available for aviation students, the importance of dual credit programs, and the experiences from college visits. Trevor shares insights on his training, the structure of his education, and the significance of keeping options open when selecting a college. The conversation also touches on the balance between education and social life while pursuing a career in aviation.

Transcript

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April Zawlocki (00:12)
Welcome to the Path to Pilot podcast with your hosts, Trevor Zawlocki and April Zawlocki. Today on the podcast, we're discussing Trevor's path to the commercial airlines. So Trevor, let's start with you telling us what you were looking for in a college. So what I wanted in a college was a very small group of people. So just small classes.

Me personally, I feel like the professor would get you to know you more and it's more personable versus a big group of people. Like a lecture hall or something like that. yeah. Okay. And I wanted a very strong aviation program, but that was pretty much it. I didn't want to go far from home. And I stayed pretty much my search on the East half of the U.S. Okay. So we were able to do some college visits.

Right. And before we did the visits, you had narrowed it down to five schools. So what were the five schools? They were the University of Minnesota, Mankato, University of Dubuque, Bowling Green State University, Bridgewater State University, and Middle Georgia State University. So like University of North Dakota is not on your list because that was a big school. Correct. There were other ones that you like had thought about and then

immediately left off your list because you didn't want to have a big school. So I think that's important for people to know that are listening. I also should say that, do you remember how we got this list? Do you remember the process? No. Okay. So I'll say from my perspective, what I did, one of the first things I did when you started talking about aviation was joining the Raising Aviation Teens Facebook page and

For in there, on the Facebook page, they had an awesome spreadsheet with the listing of the schools and some of the costs and all of that as of a couple of years ago, because this started a couple of years ago. So we had kind of tried to look at those different schools and then narrowed down those schools or your list of schools kind of based on school size more than anything else. And then we just dug into researching the

the schools to try to make sure that they were schools that you would potentially like and enjoy time at. So do you want to talk about our visits a little bit? Yeah. So the University of Minnesota Mankato was amazing. It was amazing. It was probably one of the most beautiful campuses I've been on.

a lot of amenities, student life was fantastic, super nice dorms. They had a bowling alley of all things. So student life, fantastic. The aircraft themselves at the airport, I think the airport was what, 20 minutes down the road. So not terrible. And the aircraft themselves were all G 1000 equipped, meaning they were all glass panel. So if you think of a typical airline cockpit,

where you have a screen on the, on the flight controls. That's what it looks like on the G 1000. just on a smaller plane, obviously they had some nice multi-engine aircraft. So more than two, more than one engine, sorry. And it was just a fantastic, fantastic campus. aircraft also were all pretty much brand new, weren't they?

April Zawlocki (03:53)
As a parent, would say everything that we saw at University of Minnesota, Mankato was top of the line. Everything looked fabulous. There was one big downside though, wasn't there? Yeah. The cost was astronomical. I don't remember the exact cost, but it was the most out of all five colleges that we were looking at. Yeah, it was pretty significant. That was a big hindrance. That's ultimately what...

made you decide not to go. And wait, there was something else. So the cold winters was something that they can't control. Right. And so I think they had said they were closed for a couple of, like no one flew for a couple of months in the winter of the year before, because of the weather. that's obviously another downfall to that. not that they have any control over the weather at all, but something to consider. then after we went to the university of Minnesota, we went to university of Dubuque, right?

And we had had this beautiful day at University of Minnesota. And then we drove to Dubuque and it was pouring rain, right? That was something. And I was on a work phone call at the same time. So I'm like taking work phone calls while we're in the rain at University of Dubuque. Okay. So tell me your impressions at University of Dubuque. University of Dubuque was what I would say maybe a middle of the line college. It was...

Very nice. Dorms were okay. Didn't like them as much as Mankato. They were older. They were much older. Yeah, older. And the airport was again 20, 30 minutes away. Yeah, was relatively close. So all these airports too, keep in mind, were all, I believe, decently within the actual university themselves. Yeah, they were all pretty close. That's also something I was looking at was the condition of the actual airport.

And so University of Dubuque, went and we met with their, what I was really impressed with from a parent perspective was how organized their advising was for students. Like they had a plan and we actually got to meet the advisor at the aviation day or whatever. they showed us around the airport and we got to meet with the advisor that day and she was going over what you could expect to take and all that stuff. So that was pretty impressive. I've flown.

now as a, training for my commercial, I've flown into university of Dubuque airport and it's a pretty decent airport to fly into. It's a smaller airport with two runways and the runways themselves aren't in terrible condition. They're actually really nice. so it was a, that was, it's a really nice airport to fly into. It was just once again, super expensive and I didn't want to pay that much for my education.

It was pretty expensive. And I remember that they had, that was one of the schools I was going to try to convince you to do marching band at, because they were going to give you a scholarship to do marching band and to play clarinet like in just the regular band. And they also let you take free lessons, which was pretty amazing. So, definitely did meet with the musical advisors. Yes. The music departments. Yes. Yes. Yes. So that like, that was a,

a good solid option. You ended up getting a significant scholarship from there, which would have been equal to full tuition, but ultimately made a different decision. Okay. So then after that, you went to see Bowling Green State University. Yep. This one actually, my mom wasn't with me. I took my dad with, so we drove down there to Ohio and it was a beautiful campus.

very spacious. It reminded me a little bit of Illinois State University. Super nice architecture, really nice buildings. And the only thing that I wasn't really impressed with was the aviation department. I didn't quite like it. didn't- Just wasn't your thing. Didn't mesh with it? No. I really don't know what it was. Maybe it was the people, maybe it was the aircraft, the aircraft themselves were fine. I just didn't like the whole atmosphere of it.

So I feel like I remember you saying, I was not there, but I feel like I remember you saying the tour guide made a difference here. Yeah. Like the tour guide wasn't very excited to be doing the tour of the aviation department. And I feel like I remember that discussion. So that obviously had an impact on you being interested. Cause I'm pretty sure once you came home from that visit, you were like, that's, that was off your list.

April Zawlocki (08:33)
Okay, so next on our list, we flew out to Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. And that was beautiful. It was beautiful out there. Super beautiful. However, we did sign up for the wrong tour. We didn't actually get to tour the aviation department at all. We were to sign up for regular tour. So we were kind of derailed. And it was really hot. It was really hot. It was really hot that day that we were there.

And there was a lot of walking on the tour. was. It was actually a huge campus. Yes, yes. Definitely compared to like some of the others we had seen. It was pretty big. And yeah, we I don't even think we got to talk to anybody in the aviation department. I think we saw airplanes or even an airport at Bridgewater State. So that was like on us. But I think then we just crossed that off. We're just like, all right, let's keep moving. So then.

Last but not least, you went to see Middle Georgia State University. So Middle Georgia State University was probably going to be my go-to. That was going to be my ultimate decision before doing my current path. And I liked it a lot. Actually, it felt very, almost not military-like, but it kind of felt military-like. had a uniform, you had strict times where you're supposed to do this, that I liked the structure.

anytime that I have more structure in my life, I am happy. I don't like being, just go, yeah, go do whatever the heck you want to go do. Then you just snap. Yeah. anyway, anyway, back to, middle Georgia state university.

Yeah. So I liked the structure of it. The airplanes were really nice too. I believe they had some scene gauge and they're converting everything to the glass cockpit, the G 1000. so kind of, felt a combination of a little bit of university Dubuque and a little bit of university Mankato. just with their aviation program, it was in the middle of nowhere. It really puts the middle in middle Georgia state university. we had to

drive up their nearest town was kind of a town a little bit. Well, because they have the three campuses. Yeah. Right. And so where the aviation stuff was at was at the furthest away from like the airport, like Atlanta. And so we went there first. And then remember we were trying to find fast food. Yeah, that was like some kind of lunch or something after the tour, because we were there for a while.

And we had a hard time finding something to eat. one open, if I remember correctly. Yeah. So, and obviously it was quiet because it was in the summer. like that's, you know, that was part of the reason. But then we did go, you liked the aviation dorm overlooked the runway, which was pretty amazing. Like how cool would that be? Right. And then we drove to the middle campus. Cochrane, I feel like that's what it was called. And.

Remember we went the wrong way down the one way loop? definitely did that. You did that. I was not driving. I'll make that clear. So we drove around the loop around the campus and that campus was beautiful and everyone was very friendly and all of that. And then we went up to the main campus and I actually thought when we left there that that was going to be your choice. I thought so too. I liked everything about it.

I liked everything about it. I know I felt, I go a lot of things based off feeling and I got the best feeling out of that. And it was also one of the lower sides of cost. So I liked that. It was, I feel like I remember there being, if you were a Georgia resident or resident of Georgia and you went to school there, you had some kind of tuition break or some kind of automatic scholarship or something.

So that would be something for people to look into. If you're a resident of Georgia and you go to middle Georgia state, they probably know about it if they live in Georgia, but clearly you didn't live in Georgia. And so it would have been like more of a cost to you or whatever. it would have been a lot of travel, like even getting into Atlanta and then traveling to campus and all that stuff. There would have been a lot of traveling to have to do with that. So, okay. So.

Those were the five schools we went to visit. So did you end up at any of those schools? I ended up at none of those schools. None of those schools. Okay. So, where did you decide to go, Trevor? I decided to go to the College of DuPage and get my aviation, associate degree with a bachelor's in technology education. So you're doing the aviation program at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. So it's a community college, two-year college.

and you can get your aviation degree. And what ratings are you going to get? So you had your private pilot before you went to college. So I did my instrument training over the summer. OK. And I'm currently working on my commercial. In how many weeks did you do your instrument training? I did my instrument training in 10 weeks. In 10 weeks. was intense. was the most intense 10 weeks of my life. I don't think I've ever done something so hard ever.

So we'll talk about that whole process in a future episode. And now you're working on your? Commercial. Commercial. And then in the spring you're going to do? I'm going to finish up my commercial because right now this commercial time block in this semester is purely time building. So I need to get at least 77 hours this semester alone towards my degree. And then next semester is all the certification. So we'll go through maneuvers and check ride and all that.

And then in addition to that, next semester I'll be getting my multi-engine. Okay. So I'll graduate out of college or DuPage within it, aviation, associates and a private instrument commercial and multi ratings and certificates. And then you're planning on doing CFI rating like over the summer or something at the local place. Yep. There's like a three week.

course or one couple week course you can pay, they'll give you a CFI. And do your CFI rating. So let's talk a little bit about, I mean, obviously people are interested in aviation, right? And you're clearly wanting to be a commercial pilot, but you have a bit of a backup plan. So before we talk about the backup plan,

April Zawlocki (15:20)
All right, so we're looking at what you did in high school. So you did dual credit where you take the high school class and it counts for college credit. So it's the high school teachers teaching you the coursework, but it's the college class at the high school. So you were able to do like English one and two and some math and statistics. some science too.

In science, right? You took like an astronomy, astronomy and geology and geology. you had quite a few, dual credit credits. And then you also did early enrollment. So starting your sophomore year, you came to college of DuPage campus, college of DuPage's campus and took classes there.

So you took like, what did you take first? I took manufacturing, introduction to manufacturing. So using all the lathes and all that. None of the computer numerical control or CNC machines where we were programming it, it was all hands on actually twisting the handles and machining it. Cool. So that was like your introduction to college, your sophomore year? Because I originally, before I started aviation, I wanted to become an engineer. So I was like...

yeah. We'll just jumpstart it, maybe get some hands-on application. you tried it. I tried it. And that's what you're supposed to do, right? Let's try out different things. you tried that out and then junior year, I don't think you took any early enrollment classes, but then senior year you came to campus, College of DuPage. In the fall you took an online math class, right? Correct. And then in the spring you came and took a meteorology class.

April Zawlocki (17:08)
Okay, so when you finished high school, you graduated in May of 2024 and you had completed your private pilot license already by that point. And you also had a total of 35 college credit hours. And then you were awarded nine additional credit hours for your private pilot license, which brought you to a total of 44 college credit hours when you left high school, which is pretty awesome.

so that's how you're able to graduate from COD with your associate's degree in just one year, because you were nearly halfway there and you did pretty intense summer classes. and then tell us about your backup plan. Yeah. So in joint with, college of DuPage, I'm also in a program with Valley city state university, technology education, but it's in North Dakota.

Like the school is in North Dakota. Right. It's all online classes. And, it's a, like I said, a joint thing within COD and VCSU. it's a three plus one program. So you do three years at college of DuPage and one year at Valley City State University where you that you're a student teach. but I am currently dual enrolled. So I'm getting all of my classes done with COD and starting my Valley City State University classes right now. So I'm getting.

Right now I'm taking a introduction to VCSU class, a introduction to technology education class, and a specialty class. think it's like technology and engineering one or something like that. So you're doing those five credits of VCSU courses plus a full load at COD, which includes your commercial rating. So you're a pretty busy guy.

But like you said, you like the structure and being able to work through things. Busy people get more done. And so I think that that's something that you live by a lot. your backup plan is to be a technology and engineering education teacher. So you'll get your teaching license through that program in North Dakota. And then we have reciprocity to get your Illinois teaching license. So you'll be able to teach tech ed.

So TechEd includes anything like manufacturing, woodworking, engineering, robotics, and aviation. So that's where that comes into play. having that TechEd license, being able to use all of your aviation credits to help you get that TechEd license is pretty awesome too. It's not adding anything additional. It's taking what you've already done, your manufacturing classes and all of that, and your aviation classes and putting those together too.

get you a teaching license. So that's pretty cool. I'll graduate in the spring of 26. Yes, with your teaching license. So you will be two years out of high school and you will have your associate's degree in aviation and your bachelor's degree in tech ed and your teaching license and your aviation licenses. So hopefully what I can do is student teach

And then go home and become or do CFI stuff, you know, students teach more like that. I think the teaching background can only help you when you're a CFI. I think I've spoken to the place I'm actually going to do my CFI training. They're saying that there's a lot of people who don't want to go teach and they're just focusing on getting their 1500 hours to go to the airlines.

and not really focusing on the quality of education you're giving. So hopefully with my bachelor's degree, I can bring some of my experiences from student teaching and apply that all to my actual teaching as a CFI. Yeah, that's awesome. So we know how volatile the pilot industry can be, right? And so you're prepared. You'll be ready to go to the commercial airlines. You'll be ready to take on a job as a tech ed teacher.

and maybe do, you know, flying or whatever in your summers or, be a CFI during the weekdays and the weekends, week, I'm sorry, weeknights and the weekends. going to most likely just be a CFI for the entire time. That's probably what I'm going to be. All right. That's fair. That's, that's totally your decision. You can absolutely do that. So there's a lot of talk out there. Like, do you have to get a bachelor's degree or do you not have to get a bachelor's degree? What's your take on it?

I think it can't do anything but help you. Yes, it might take a while longer, but I am fortunate enough where I have prepared myself in high school, took the necessary classes, got enough credits, where I actually graduate with a lot of licenses at 19. so if you're able to do that, do that wonderful shave off of year or two.

It can't do anything but help you. can't, it'll give you a leg up because a lot of, a leg up in the airline hiring process, because a lot of people are going to ATP school or, doing just the zero to hero path. I call it where they're getting with nothing. Start doing 12 months, just pure training. And then after 12 months, you're all way licensed from private instrument commercial multi and CFI. And then they're getting there.

in their 1500 hours, then going straight to the airlines without any degrees. So while degrees are not mandatory, I think it'll give yourself a little bit of a leg up in the competition, so to speak. then it also, like you will, you started your private pilot training like a year and a half ago now. So it will take you like two and a half, almost three years.

probably about two and a half years to get your different ratings and all that stuff. So at least you've been through like the weather, you know, a couple of times and, you know, went through some other, experienced some different things around there. So I guess if you had any piece of advice to share with people about colleges, picking a college degrees, anything like that, what would it be?

I would say don't, don't close your doors for anything. Keep your doors open. I know I was very close to mine when looking at colleges, but I ended up, I absolutely did not want to go to college or DuPage. thought just because my mom works there. I was like, I don't want to go there. I don't want to be around her. I just want to go by myself. But I love it. And I love it. Just being with her.

I love going to lunch with her and meeting her in the hallways. It's wonderful. But just keep your doors open. You never know what pops up. yeah. I will ask a side note here question as I know it's a community college and you're living at home. Do you find that you are still able to like socialize and like interact with your friends and like, cause you spend a lot of time hanging out with them after classes and all that kind of stuff, right?

There's one person from actually high school that I hang out with a lot. And so we go out, grab lunch every Tuesday. And then I stay and talk with him for a while. then every, pretty much every class I go before class and after class talk with all my aviation buddies. And we have a group chat. talking all the time. So even though I'm at home, I definitely find ways to socialize. I'm not wanting to go out and like party or anything like some of those.

Some of them are, I will admit, but they're also lot older than me. So I am the youngest. That's fair. Okay. So thanks so much for answering all of those questions today. On our next episode, we'll be discussing the first solo. So don't forget to like us on social media, our Facebook page, Path to Pilot.

And a reminder, we are looking for future guests for the show. So if you're interested, send us an email at april.zawlocki at gmail.com. Thanks so much, Trevor. Thank you all.