Jenny McCartney was awarded the Dare to Dream Scholarship in 2012, which allowed her to earn her commercial single-engine land certificate. Born in Tampa, Florida and raised in beautiful Georgia, she has been enthralled with aviation since childhood (she lived on short final of Tampa International Airport). After her first flight at age 15 over Dallas, Texas in a Cherokee 150, she was hooked! Her next flight would not be until years later, when at the age of 20, she soloed her first aircraft.

She is solely responsible for her collegiate flight training, and scholarships help to keep the propeller spinning. Without the Dare to Dream scholarship, Jenny says, she would have struggled to earn her commercial certificate. The challenge to pay for flight training can be overwhelming, and for her it was a welcome encouragement to receive such a generous scholarship. “The donors for the Dare to Dream Scholarship are truly investing in the next generation of pilots. I am humbled and grateful for scholarship committees that chose to invest in my future and for the donors that I have never met, who cheered me on from the sidelines.”

2015 Update: Jenny has completed her  CFI- airplane and is working on her A&P mechanic certifications at Middle Georgia State College.