By Angelia Thorsen

Young Eagles doesn’t just give kids a flight. It can shape the rest of their life.

With National Aviation Day just behind us, I keep thinking about why programs like EAA’s Young Eagles matter. It’s not just about one great day; it’s about giving kids a positive association with aviation, one that will stick with them and could lead them back to working in this industry if they choose to pursue it.

Over a decade ago, my first experience with Anderson Regional Airport was being brought to a Young Eagles “Free Flight Day” with my brother. The pilot I flew with was Bob Snider.

A decade after that flight, when I decided I wanted to find a job locally, I thought back to my time flying out of the airport and decided to stop in and see if they were hiring.

I’ve been there for over two years now, and it wasn’t until this past weekend, digging through my old Young Eagles photos, that I recognized Bob in them. He’d been there with me from the very start. Little did I know that someday I’d also get to help honor him by creating a memorial display and hosting a celebration of life in our terminal lobby that I coordinated.

Bob never stopped doing what he’d always done: pointing kids toward the sky. Last October, three kids came into the airport dressed as Orville and Wilbur Wright and Amelia Earhart. I excitedly took them out on the ramp for photos with an airplane. When they came back in, Bob told them about Young Eagles.

They’d never been in an airplane before, and they could not wait to come back. Last Saturday, they finally got their flights. Two full-circle moments, one weekend.

Bob spent his life inspiring people to pursue aviation. He helped me get here, and he helped countless others too. Getting to work that Young Eagles event, adding to the 2.5 million-plus kids who’ve now flown through this program, was my way of paying that forward. Hoping I get to be that person for kids, the way Bob was an inspiration for me.

I loved every minute of it. After our event wrapped, I even got to go up in an open-cockpit biplane!

To all of you who are Young Eagles pilots, thank you; my story is just one of millions who have been positively impacted through this program. I plan to continue to volunteer in Young Eagles and in other community efforts to promote aviation, as it fills me with immeasurable amounts of joy!