With the speed of technology these days and the vast information that is out there, I wonder at times how many people stumble upon articles about us (about me). What is the image that is being portrayed about us online? How do we deal with that perception of us whether we are painted in a positive or negative way? How often do we want to reinvent ourselves due to those reviews? How true are these painted words about us?
Being one of the few females working in the aviation world of Samoa (however small that is) I am continuously reminded of those women who went before me. The few females who paved the world that was and is still very much predominantly male. There is a reason why the flight deck area is called a 'cockpit' after all. These are some of the women that overcame numerous challenges so that people like me can enjoy the benefits of aviation.
Of course the men cannot be downgraded, they are a part of the aviation world but nowhere near challenged bombarded like us. I remember when I first applied to be a pilot at the Massey University Aviation School. One of my teachers in high school strongly discouraged me from applying simply because I 'will not get in'. I wondered if it was due to me being a Pacific Islander or that my Math skills weren't as shiny (I gave up on Math a long time ago), maybe both.
"NO' and "YOU CANNOT" are two phrases that simply leads to more determination on my part. I come from a place where women do not sit idly while life goes by, where tama'ita'i do not let the men do all the talking while they take the back seat, where women do not shy away from the hard and rugged road. I come from a place where women are warrior queens, where women take courage in the face of animosity and take a challenge when their souls say so. In the words of a true warrior queen -Vaimasenu’u Zita Martel “E au le ina’ilau o Tina ma tama’itai.” translated to English “The legacy of women is one of total achievement.”
I ignored what my highschool Dean of Students told me, I went ahead and applied and was one of the five girls in the whole course. It was no easy feat, we had to work twice as hard as the men. You don't have to be an Einstein to fly a plane but it is not easy feat either. In the end, the women graduated and to this day, I know that four of us are still in the aviation industry.
You might ask, ok so what does the first part of this article have to do with the mini testimony in the second part? There may be a substantial amount of information about us on the internet these days, our facebook pages might be splashed with glamorous shots (or not) and our Linkedin profiles might speak of great achievements (or not). These bleeps of our stories do not give a full picture of our journeys, they do not define or validate us, they are just that---bleeps. So next time you ask someone what they do make sure you ask them the following
- what their story is
- what their journey is like
- the challenges they faced along the way
- if that experience has added value to their lives
I'd like to add a link of the small bleep that is my aerosexual or my aviation aficionado side (acidionado defined)...my journey through the aviation folds.
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| Me flying a B787 Dreamliner simulator @ the Boeing HQ in Singapore before the actual plane entered the market |
If you are a young woman (which I once was and still am at times) and if you want to take up aviation, do not let a person or fear hold you back. If you want to be a pilot, go for it. If you want to be an airline manager, go for it. If you want to be an air traffic controller, flight inspector, aviation specialist, ground handler, baggage handler, aviation consultant ....there are endless possibilities. Life is what you make of it. Take that step and never look back :)
If you are interested in aviation and have some questions, feel free to leave a comment and I shall try my best to answer.
aerosexual defined by the Urban dictionary -
- someone who loves planes and generally flies them. Also know as a pilot. Usually face large dilemmas such as choosing between the curveness of a Cirrus SR22, verse the tenderness of handling a piper
- the industry term for aviation aficionados (I like this one)
Love your Blog and most of all admire your courage and celebrates your achievement. Its not often we hear of a career as an Aviator, let alone a female aviation aficionado. May I congratulate you for being a young Pacific woman pioneer in this field and wish you a long and successful journey. I also remember you as a fine poet and writer, one of your many talents of which Samoa can be proud of. Would love to invite you over at NUS to speak at our Open Day next year if you should be interested. As a fine role model for young people, you have my vote of confidence that you can accept any challenge and help support the development of our youth and education in Samoa. Thanks for the opportunity to comment and hope to hear from you soon. Faafetai and kind regards. Avalogo T.
ReplyDeleteThank you Avalogo for that vote of confidence :) I will be happy to talk to our young people and anyone who will be willing to hear my musings.I shall look forward to that invitation next year. I haven't published more poems lately, I have yet to put out the second book (the draft has been lying around my house collecting dust since 2010!!) Perhaps I shall add a page on this blog for poems. I am a product of Samoan education and I shall never forget that even if I have studied in NZ,Singapore and recently UK. There is just something about us students from Samoa that adds that extra weight whilst overseas...love for Samoa!Thank you and I shall keep writing.
ReplyDeleteSincerely
Samoa Aviator
Very inspirational and rings true of who you are. I'm glad that there are women in Samoa like you because I'm all about cheesecake whereas you and your ambition will definitely pave the way for struggling young women who hear the same "NO and "YOU CANNOT" daily in Samoa. Malo lava le faatuatua ma le fai o faiva.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ms Salesa,
ReplyDeleteYou might be about cheesecake but you will be ready to take that extra step when given a platform. Ambition will take you up to the door but determination, faith,bravery and all those other good cheesecake ingredients and a good resounding knock will open that door. So be ready to take that step when one is given. Thank you for reading and we should have a cheesecake date one of these days...Scalini's serve the best!! Thank you and "YES you can"..
Love the blog Ms Aviator!!!
ReplyDeleteBeing one of Samoa's first 2 female Air Traffic Controllers, i can identify with your musings... i tried to change my scholarship half way through to flying and was asked a stupid question by one of the men at our CAA at the time "what airline do you wish to fly with?" Durr "the national airline of course". Needless to say the request was refused so i finished my ATC training and was one of the best if not the best air traffic controller at the time!!! well that is according to most of the pilots at the time! LOL..
Sassy
Oiaue Sassy!Now that is one area of aviation in Samoa that is dominated by women right now..I think we only have one male ATC who is the manager and the rest are females! Looking on the bright side, we have to thank that CAA man for declining your request because if you were a pilot, you would still need an air traffic controller and you would definitely not be where you are now. Your path was changed due to the obvious reasons Sassy, you were meant to teach, advise and consult. Although one can always change career paths :)
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