Natasa is a private pilot based in South Dakota, originally from Serbia. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Information Technology in Serbia and a master’s degree in Financial Economics in Poland. For years, she tried building a career along traditional paths, giving each one her full effort, but deep down, she knew something was missing.

That clarity came while working as a flight attendant with Emirates in Dubai. Being around aviation every day planted a question she couldn’t ignore: What if I stopped watching from the cabin and tried flying myself? From her very first flight, she knew she had found where she belonged.

Natasa moved to the United States and began flight training from scratch, working multiple jobs to fund her lessons and flying whenever she could. The progress hasn’t always been easy or fast, but it has been built on discipline, resilience, and a willingness to keep going when things get hard.

She is now working toward commercial training, with a clear focus on service driven aviation. Her long term goals include mission-based flying, mentoring future pilots as a Certified Flight Instructor, and giving back through Civil Air Patrol. Natasa hopes her journey shows that aviation isn’t just a dream but it’s a real, attainable path, and that it’s never too late to begin again.