What Are You Going to Do When You Grow Up?

FLYING Staff

Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 08:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Columbia-Greene Community College hosts an annual career day for high school students to explore diverse career options, including a panel dedicated to "Air Transportation."
Panelists shared insights into specific aviation roles such as flight instruction, air traffic control, and flight attending, highlighting their responsibilities and daily realities.
The article extensively details a wide array of aviation careers beyond airline piloting, encompassing professional pilot roles (e.g., corporate, test, specialized flying) and numerous non-flying positions (e.g., engineering, law, sales, creative fields, government), often where a pilot's license provides a significant advantage.

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Now that I’ve officially become a senior citizen it’s probably long past time for me to decide what I want to do with my life. I could have used some help deciding when I was younger.

For 21 years, Columbia-Greene Community College has been helping students consider their options by hosting a “career day” for junior and senior high school students in the area. Professionals representing some 25 different career choices ranging from agriculture to science pre- sent panel discussions about their professions. The more than 1,500 students from 14 area high schools can select two career panels to attend as well as one general session. I volunteered to participate on the panel that addressed career choices available in “Air Transportation.” Luckily I was joined on the panel by a full complement of experts: Dan Pemrick, supervisor of the FAA control tower at Albany International Airport; John Mahony, a flight instructor for BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) and Columbia-Greene’s aviation department; and Lori Creeron, a flight attendant with Colgan Airways. The pilot representing the airlines wasn’t able to attend, but between the four of us, we had most of the bases covered.