Steph is Flying High Thanks to an RGS Bursary ONA Magazine catches up with former bursary holder Steph Burn (04-06) – first featured in Issue 76 (Summer 2009) – on hard work, dedication and realising her dream of becoming a qualified pilot. Above: Steph takes time out in the cargo hold of her aircraft
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ONA – Old Novocastrians Association Magazine Summer 2017
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t is lunch time and I’m sat in the lobby of an airport hotel with a paper and a tea. I’ve been sat here since 10am having already done a seven hour shift this morning. I’m from Gateshead; after my parents’ divorce, where my father left and never came back my sister and I were raised in a single parent family. My mum did an excellent job of hiding us from any financial difficulties she might have had. Her parents, my beloved grandparents, until they both died helped us all physically and financially as much as they could despite their terminal illnesses. I even lived with my grandparents for a few years and they were a fantastic inspiration to me. My mum raised me with a, ‘you can do anything you want as long as you pay for it’ attitude. Hence, from leaving school age my younger sister and I grew up working alongside, studying and saving wherever possible. My dream was to be an airline pilot. As a five-yearold, I had a look in the flight deck and realised at that age that was all I wanted to do. Next I find myself, at 16 with a great dream, lots of ambition, a part-time job and no way of knowing how to fund my dream. I learn quickly the cost of an Air Transport Pilot’s Licence is similar to the cost of a mortgage in the UK. Living in a council house with no chance of being able to apply for an unsecured funding makes that dream impossible.
