Maliha Karimzada has dreamed of being a pilot since she was a young girl accompanying her mother on her international flights for work. “It made me want to travel and be a pilot myself,” Maliha says, “specifically a commercial pilot.”

It was a tall order for a child whose family had no pilots and who had never talked to a pilot. But Maliha was determined.

To become a commercial pilot, students first need to earn first their private pilot license (for flying single-engine airplanes) and then their instrument panel license. Then they need to get a commercial multi-engine rating, accumulate 1500 hours of flight time, and go on to pass the exams to earn the commercial pilot certificate.

To prepare for navigating this career path, Maliha did an internship with the Hiller Aviation Museum, where she served as a tour guide for younger children. She also applied for (and received) a scholarship from the Upwind Foundation to pursue her studies at Oakland Flyers, an aviation school near the Oakland Airport.

Maliha thanks AHS Instructional Coach Amy Burke for helping her research how to become a pilot and writing a recommendation letter for the scholarship.

“Becoming a pilot was my childhood dream,” Maliha says. “Ms. Burke is helping me follow it.”