Most rising juniors spend their summer preparing for the SAT’s, visiting colleges, and even sleeping.  North Penn junior Jenny Scholl, however, spent her summer flying around the world. Having an American Airlines pilot as a dad, Scholl has been able to travel regularly and has been exposed to many life-changing experiences. These travel experiences have not only expanded her knowledge of different cultures, but have humbled her at an early age.

“I get a lot of experience that most people don’t, like flying to crazy places.”

At the age of sixteen, Scholl has been to twenty-five different countries and five different continents. In addition, Scholl has already received her student pilot license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Scholl’s exposure to airplanes as a youngster contributed to her interest in flying. One of the most prominent events: coming to America from Hunan, China.

Not that she could possibly remember her first and possibly most prominent flying experience: coming to America from Hunan, China, Scholl shared, “I’ve been flying for a long time…I mean the first time I was on an airplane was when I was ten months old coming to America, and I’ve been traveling all the time ever since. I even got chances to fly in the cockpits [as an observer]of small airplanes when I was little.”

2016 has been an eventful year for Scholl as she has traveled for pleasure and attended many different programs and conferences to enhance her knowledge in civil air patrol. She believes that flying will allow her to continue her travels.

Traveling and Aerospace programs

In March of this year, Scholl traveled to multiple locations. March 10th through 12th, Scholl was in Nashville, Tennessee for the International Women in Aviation Conference (WAI) 2016. There were nearly 5,000 attendees including 91 international guests from 16 different countries in participation of the 27th annual IWAC. Scholl has hopes to attend the 2017 conference as well, which will take place in Orlando, Florida.

“[Women make up] a very small percentage in the aviation world. [The point of] that conference is to push more women into aviation. The ironic part was that the Tennessee local news said that there were more men who attended that conference than women,” said Scholl.

Women account for approximately 5.12%  of airline commercial pilots in the U.S.A and 5.44% globally (Gender Gap Grader). She than reflected on her experience as a female in aviation.

“When I joined [Civil Air Patrol] there was only one other girl,” shared Scholl.

At the time there were only four people in the class, but since, the squadron has grown to about twenty two people, seven of which are female. She likes that the female interest in aviation has increased over the years.

Beginning July 9th, Scholl attended the Arkansas Wing Basic Cadet Encampment which took place in Little Rock, Arkansas for a week. She stayed at Camp Robinson, a National Guard (Army) Base outside of Little Rock.

“We went to Little Rock Air Force Base almost everyday. We also toured many facilities such as the Fire Station, Security Forces, K9 Unit, ground teams, etc. We flew on a C-130J Hercules and got to meet several Air Force Academy graduates,” shared Scholl.

Though visiting new places everyday was fun and educational, the encampment also involved a lot of physical labor. All Cadets (people under the age of twenty-one) were expected to always be professional.

“We did physical training activities: obstacles courses that involved jumping over walls, climbing up ropes, army crawling through tunnels, etc.” shared Scholl.

Most people who do similar encampments don’t go out of state unless they have to. Since Scholl had such a busy schedule, she needed to attend the Arkansas Wing Encampment. As most people attending the encampment were natives of Arkansas, she was able to form bonds with people from different backgrounds.

“I didn’t want to go to the encampment, but I ended up really liking that. I had to go because next year I want to go to a National Cadet Special Activity (NCSA), and you have to have encampment to go to any other school for Civil Air Patrol.”

The Civil Air Patrol allows cadets to go to school for leadership, aviation, STEM, emergency services, and technology, to name a few.

From July 21 to August 7th Scholl participated in International Youth Exchange (IYE). The program is exclusive to airline families and for teenagers ages fourteen through nineteen.  IYE matches teenagers up with another airline family who lives abroad. The students are matched up by their interests and compatibility and spend two weeks at each other’s home. So for two weeks she lived with a French native named Clémence Manessier.

“I really wanted to do the French exchange program, but halfway through I still had two weeks left and I just wanted to go home,” explained a then exhausted Scholl.

After a long summer full of many experiences, Scholl found herself tired, yet she kept things moving.

Scholl and her exchange partner Manessier found that they shared a lot in common in spite of living in two different countries. Both were teenagers in high school and children of pilots, and both have been given opportunities to travel and express interest in aerospace.

Once her two weeks of experiencing France was up, Scholl brought Manessier to her home in the North Penn community. Scholl would then share her home with Manessier for the next two weeks.

“I didn’t get to rest even when I got home because every single day that she was here we were doing something. We went to Dorney Park, we went to a soccer game, we went to Crystal Cave, we went to the beach, we went to all these weird places,” said Scholl.

Though Scholl had an eventful summer, next summer she plans to relax and spend time preparing for her senior year.

“For this summer (coming) I said I didn’t want to go as many places because this past summer was really overwhelming. I ended up being really tired,” Scholl admitted.

The amount of traveling that she does has proven to be an enjoyable as well as educational experience. Her cultural awareness stems from her constant traveling, as she has been educated on how others live around the world.

“When you travel so much you have to know a little bit about other cultures,” shared Scholl.

Throughout her lifetime, Scholl has also learned to capture the moments through photography. She has learned that the best way to make the times of her life memorable is by having a picture to look back on.

“One bad thing about when you travel so much when you’re young is that I am not going to remember any of it. So it kind of sucks, and I don’t remember a lot of it. Even from the beginning of this summer, since I did so much, I don’t remember a lot of it, so I take pictures to remember.”

Scholl hopes to contribute to her photo gallery pictures of her achieving the goals that remain on her bucket list.

“I want to have kids. I want to jump off an airplane [which I want to do so soon, I am so excited]!  I want to go scuba diving. I want to go to all the continents. I want to go on a mission trip. My mom works at CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) and every year they go to Guatemala and do surgeries for kids. I want to go and help out. That’s one of my bucket lists to do something good for other communities or my community.”

Continuing her training

As for now, Scholl continues her training. She has been given the opportunity to occasionally train at airports. She also plans to do a Powered Flight Academy this summer for Civil Air Patrol. In order to receive a  private pilot’s license, student pilot’s are required to have a minimum of forty hours of which twenty must be dual flying with an instructor. She plans to get her solo license from Civil Air Patrol which is located at the Quakertown Airport. Scholl attends lessons there every week.

“Sometimes we have flying classes, but we do leadership classes and physical training. So some weeks, like this past week, it’s all physical training and you have to pass a test. You have to get a mile time, a certain amount of pushups that you can do at once, and a certain amount of sit-ups in one minute. And then after that we do more running that doesn’t actually count for your time… and do more pushups and sit-ups. Then we play capture the flag,” shared Scholl.

Before going into flight participants have to take a ground handling course for Civil Air Patrol. In this course, students are taught the basics of flying. Once these concepts are mastered, they are allowed to take flight.

Scholl then reflected on her first time flying.

“I was really calm and my flight instructor actually said I was a natural,” shared a reflective Scholl.

Her first time flying, she flew with Captain Matthew Wendell, who just happens to be a science teacher at Penndale Middle School.

“He was the first person to ever take me flying as an instructor,” shared Scholl.

Most students get nervous flying for their first time, and this can lead to mistakes in applying their training to the flight.

“The pilot’s right next to you so if you really do mess up that bad you’re not going down…he’s got you,” she shared.

Fortunately, in addition to her training she earn the opportunity to have easy access to a plane. Her uncle plans to get an airplane located in Doylestown, which makes accessibility and finances easier.

“The problem with getting your pilot’s license is that it’s very expensive. It’s $100 per hour training with the CFI which is a Certified Flight Instructor, and then $100 for the plane per hour, and then you have to pay for fuel,” she stated.

Having access to the plane in Doylestown, Scholl would only have to pay for fuel and a CFI.

Scholl admits that having experienced pilots around her played a large part of her growing interest in aviation.

“I expressed interests and [my dad] kind of pushed me forward,” she shared.

Scholl is grateful for the experience, as it has allowed her to view the earth from above the clouds.

“You’re in the middle of the air; it’s magical,” shared a passionate Scholl.

Flying is therapeutic to Scholl. When in the sky, she doesn’t have to worry about the stressors of her junior year of high school or college.

“I’ve always been calm. My instructor said it was weird how calm I was. Most people get really nervous,” shared Scholl.

She then added, “I guess I am really relaxed. I love looking at the sky because the sky is really pretty.”

In the future, Scholl hopes to get an occupation in the aerospace field. As a female, she is open to endless opportunities.

“I want to fly, but I don’t think I want to fly commercial. I want to fly interesting things. I kind of want to fly for the government, but I don’t know if I want to do civilian or military yet, I haven’t decided. Big airplanes like C-150s or [being] a fighter pilot sounds cool, but I don’t know if I want to be a fighter pilot,” she shared.

She then continued her list of possibilities.

“Being a pilot for the FBI also sounds really fun,” she added.

Scholl is a unique part of the North Penn student body. She successfully adds to the diverse culture, background, and often hidden talents that lie within the halls of our school. She is an inspiration to young females to take part in whatever they have a passion for even if the field is dominated by men. As Scholl follows her dreams and travels the world, she takes part in and further encourages the new generation of women in science, technology, engineering, and math.