{"id":3058,"date":"2018-06-10T12:45:48","date_gmt":"2018-06-10T12:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3058"},"modified":"2018-06-10T17:25:08","modified_gmt":"2018-06-10T17:25:08","slug":"tstc-and-baylor-university-partnership-helps-student-reach-new-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3058","title":{"rendered":"TSTC and Baylor University Partnership Helps Student Reach New Heights"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) – Less than 10 miles apart are two schools connected by their students\u2019 passion for aviation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Texas State Technical College\u2019s Aircraft Pilot Training Technology program and Baylor University\u2019s Aviation Sciences department work together to give students like Natalie Verhoog the chance to reach new heights.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really getting a unique college experience going to both schools, and it\u2019s an amazing opportunity. The programs mesh together really well, and I get to fly planes for college credit,\u201d said Verhoog, a Baylor Aviation Sciences sophomore with a Professional Pilot concentration from Redding, California. <\/span><\/p>\n

TSTC and Baylor’s partnership allows Baylor students to complete ground training on their home campus while attending TSTC to complete flight training.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>The Aviation Sciences program at Baylor could not exist without TSTC. Partnership between our two institutions has been the basis for this program since its beginning in 1991,\u201d said Trey Cade, director of Baylor\u2019s Institute for Air Science.<\/span><\/p>\n

Students earn a 500-hour reduction in the required total flight time by completing the Baylor-TSTC partnership. The Federal Aviation Administration requires pilots to have 1,500 flight hours to enter the airline industry, but these graduates will earn a restricted Airline Transport Pilot license, allowing them to enter with 1,000 flight hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis marriage between Baylor and TSTC offers these students the right environment to enter the industry with (certification for) ground and flight training. Once they meet certain requirements, these students can get into the airline industry well-trained and quickly,\u201d TSTC lead flight instructor Rick Connor said. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The aviation field was the last thing Verhoog expected to love, but when an impromptu flight lesson in her California hometown swept her off her feet, she knew she had found her calling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI fell in love with it. I had never shown any interest in airplanes or flying. I had traveled a lot, but I had never looked at it like that. And then I was instantly in love with it. I knew that’s what I had to do,\u201d Verhoog said. <\/span><\/p>\n

To feel like she was on the same page with her classmates, Verhoog put in extra hours studying and asked countless questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI asked multiple times to go in the maintenance hangar and would ask for one hour to ask as many questions as I could about the planes that were being worked on,\u201d Verhoog said. \u201cI went from being someone who had never lifted the hood of a car before flight training to now — I can describe every aspect of a fuel-injected engine really well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Helping to guide her on her journey is fellow Baylor Aviation and TSTC grad Bond Henderson. Henderson works as both a fixed-wing and helicopter flight instructor for TSTC.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Natalie is a joy to work with. Her constant positive attitude and persistent drive for excellence are by far her most noticeable qualities. Beyond that, she is a fantastic student, always wanting to improve and learn,\u201d Henderson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the FAA requiring first officers to have 1,500 flight hours and more captains reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65, there is an enormous demand for pilots.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a huge bottleneck created, and we are seeing a great need for pilots. Age, hour requirements and huge expansion means these positions are paying more because there is a great lack of people\u201d Connor said. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the aviation industry clamors for more pilots, Henderson and Verhoog see it as an opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>As in many other industries, women provide a dynamic of diverse thinking that drastically benefits the aviation community,\u201d Henderson said. \u201cThe women I have met in the aviation industry are assertive, problem-solving and safety-minded.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For young women dreaming of entering the aviation field, Verhoog advises them to stick to it and do the work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did have to thicken up my skin a little bit, that\u2019s for sure. But my experience has been nothing but positive,\u201d Verhood said. \u201cMy mom said, \u2018show up on time or be there early, and never give them a reason to doubt your ability to be efficient and to do it well and do it right, and they won\u2019t treat you any different.\u2019 It\u2019s 100 percent true.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Verhoog will graduate in spring 2020. She is a member of the Tri Delta sorority and is in the Honors College at Baylor. After graduation she hopes to fly with international airlines or charter flights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Registration for fall classes at TSTC is underway. For more information, visit tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(WACO) – Less than 10 miles apart are two schools connected by their students\u2019 passion for aviation. Texas State Technical College\u2019s Aircraft Pilot Training Technology program and Baylor University\u2019s Aviation Sciences department work together to give students like Natalie Verhoog the chance to reach new heights. \u201cI\u2019m really getting a unique college experience going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3060,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3058\/revisions\/3060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}