Megha Modugula

I stepped on my first plane in 2011 when I was just 5 years old, flying from India to the US with my family for a new life. Since then, my love for planes blossomed. Noticing this, my dad signed me up for flight classes at the Centennial Aviation Academy in Chamblee, Georgia, when I was in 8th grade. I first attended Ground classes, where I learned the theory behind flight. Then, every month, I had a 2-hour slot where I would get into a Cessna-172 with my instructor and practice everything from basic flight controls and maneuvers to emergency landings. When COVID hit the country in February 2020, training in the Cessna's was no longer viable, and instead, we only had ground classes; this left me upset. Unfortunately, when I started high school, my dream of becoming a pilot became less important. Finally, in my sophomore year, I quit training as I fell behind in school, and my parents couldn't afford the classes anymore. Even though I stopped training, my love of planes did not vanish; rather, it took a new turn into Aerospace Engineering; as my dream of becoming a pilot fell flat, I was determined to become an aerospace engineer so I could design and build planes instead. This determination landed me at UGA, where I am pursuing a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering as my first step toward becoming an Aerospace Engineer.