Mya Adams is soaring toward a career in aviation

Mya Adams first considered a career as a pilot after watching an aviation documentary. She watched another, and another, and soon her mom was calling it her new hobby. Mya was intrigued by the risk management aspect of flying. “There is this saying that ‘the rules and regulations are written in blood,’” she said. “Each one was put in place because there are lives in your hands when you operate a plane. It’s a big responsibility.” 

Encouraging her passion at Habitat for Aviation 

After her mom told a coworker about Mya’s new hobby, the coworker recommended they look into signing Mya up for Habitat for Aviation. It’s a Vermont nonprofit, founded and directed by Beth White, that provides people with the opportunity to fix, build, and fly planes. Mya felt at home there from her very first day. It’s been three years since she started, and Habitat—and airplanes—take up almost every moment of her life. 

Small steps forward helped Mya on her way to college 

Mya is so passionate that she applied to exactly one school when it came time for her to go to college: Vermont State University. Vermont State has a professional pilot program, and Mya knew she wanted to go. “Having a college that offers that program this close to home is a dream,” she shared. “Why wouldn’t I go?!” 

The jump to college was, in reality, a series of small steps for Mya. She was already a student at Hazen Union High School and Green Mountain Technology and Career Center. Then she learned about Early College, which allows eligible high school seniors to enroll at Vermont State (or Community College of Vermont) during their senior year in high school. Mya started at Vermont State while still in high school and cleared a few of her general education classes. With the help of her student success advisor there, she was also able to take aviation classes.

Mya’s VSAC counselor, Michelle Legere, also helped. Michelle is an outreach counselor in VSAC’s Talent Search, a program that helps students explore career and postsecondary education options and enroll in education programs after high school. Michelle helped Mya keep on top of the many deadlines she had to meet for Early College, financial aid, and her college application. “She was so available and responsive,” Mya added. “I’m really grateful for that.” 

Mya always knew she wanted to go to college, but the many pieces of the process were a lot to navigate. Michelle helped Mya with all of it. With her support, Mya was able to cover her entire first year of college after high school with financial aid and scholarships, and a little over half of her current year as well. 

Enrolling in the professional pilot program at Vermont State 

Between Early College and the training she received at the Franklin County State Airport, Mya entered the Vermont State pilot program last fall with enough training and credits that she’s looking at the possibility of graduating next fall. She’s completed her commercial training and is on her way to becoming a Certified Flight Instructor. 

Mya is doing her ground training and classes at Vermont State in Williston and is flying at the Franklin County State Airport every chance she gets. “99% of my time is school or flying,” she laughed. She’s working on building up her flight hours to clear certain milestones to enter the workforce or to be eligible for certain aviation jobs. 

Considering a future as an aerial firefighter and sharing her passion along the way

As another part of her journey, Mya is exploring training for a career as an aerial firefighter. She’s applying to join the local fire department as call staff, which would let her serve her community as a part-time firefighter and gain experience before possibly making the leap to fighting wildfires from the air. 

Mya has also volunteered as a pilot for the Young Eagles program at Franklin County State Airport. It’s a program that offers free discovery flights to kids ages 8–17 to encourage them to consider opportunities in aviation. With the program, she’s able to take kids up in a plane and introduce them to flying, showing them the basics and sparking their interest in the field. 

For Mya, who grew up in Hardwick and is just 19 now, her whole path has been a dream come true. “Beth [White] and the opportunity at Habitat really made a difference for me,” she said.

Mya is excited about all her future holds and loves sharing her passion and knowledge with the next generation of students. She’s gone back to Hazen Union High School to talk to students about aviation. It’s a small way to give back that meant a lot to her. “It was really nice to see Michelle [Legere] there,” she added. “And to share with her that I was actually doing what we always said I would do.” 

The Vermont Student Assistance Corp. was created by the Vermont Legislature in 1965 as a public nonprofit agency. We advocate for Vermont students and their families to ensure that they have the tools they need to achieve their education and training goals. We create opportunities for all Vermont students, but particularly for those—of any age—who believe that the doors to education are closed to them. Growing families save for education with VT529, Vermont’s official 529 savings program. To help Vermonters plan and pay for college or job training, our counselors work with students in nearly every Vermont middle school and high school, and are also available to work with adults. Our grant, scholarship, and workforce development programs create opportunity, help students re-skill or learn new skills, and grow the economy. VSAC’s loan, loan refinance, and loan forgiveness programs provide competitive education financing to students and families. Find us at www.vsac.org or visit Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

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