Spirit Airlines Awards Scholarship to L3Harris Student

Congratulations to L3Harris Flight Academy Student Melody Bailey who has been awarded the Spirit Wings Scholarship! 

Melody's $10,000 scholarship fund will now go towards supporting her commercial airline pilot training as she pursues her dream career!

We caught up with Melody as she shared her thoughts on the news and the origins of her inspiration:

My Name is Melody Bailey, I'm 20 years old and I was born and raised in Central Florida.

"Receiving this scholarship is changing my life completely."

I am currently on course to achieve my Commercial Pilot License. My goal is to become an airline pilot.

Receiving this scholarship is changing my life completely. Being out of school for a few months for medical reasons has held me back, I knew that review flights would be on my agenda when I returned. This scholarship will encourage me that I will still achieve my biggest dream of finishing aviation school and heading to the airlines!

I am grateful and honored to receive such a reward, knowing that it’ll allow me to continue my aviation career after I graduate school without any financial stress.

Why I'm a Pilot?

For me life is all about learning. As a child we’re constantly learning new things; how to read, write and even talk for the first time. It can make childhood feel like an eternity, but I was always living in the moment while I absorbed new information.

As I grew into an young adult I noticed my peers complaining about how fast time was flying by and reminiscing their youth. After graduating high school and college they felt like there was nothing else to learn. 

As a pilot I will never stop digesting new information! There is always something new to study. Every day is a different experience with equations to be solved. This career allows me to achieve the same feeling I had in my childhood. I have found that aviation is the fountain of youth in a sense.