A Woman in the Sky

“Everyone has oceans to fly if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?”

― Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart was born in Kansas in 1897. She grew up as a tomboy. She climbed trees instead of playing with dolls. Her motivation was strong from an early age. She filled pages of her scrapbook with stories of successful women. Maybe their achievements helped her fly—if women became so successful in predominantly male-oriented fields, why couldn’t she?

Earhart’s aviation dreams started at a Toronto expo during a 1917 Christmas vacation. She watched with wonder when the first plane she’d ever seen soared overhead. “I did not understand it at the time, but I believe that little red aeroplane said something to me as it swished by,” she said. Three years later, she took her first flight. And her flying career began: “By the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground, I knew I had to fly.” She saved up money for flying lessons. In 1923, she became the sixteenth woman to get a flying license. She was now a pilot! She made her first Atlantic crossing in 1928; but, she wasn't in the pilot's seat. “Men did all the flying — had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes,” she said of her trip. “Maybe someday I'll try it alone.” And she did. In 1932, she soared over the ocean waters and landed safely in the fields of Northern Ireland. She was the first woman, the second person, to pilot a plane solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Before her 40th birthday, Earhart said, “I have a feeling that there is just about one more good flight left in my system...” She dreamt of a flight around the world. She wanted to be the first woman to do it. The journey was hard. Navigation was difficult. The weather conditions were harsh. After taking off in 1937, she and her co-pilot disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. The fate of the two flyers has been a mystery since then. Earhart was a true pioneer for female pilots. She climbed into a cockpit as a young woman and changed the aviation world for women. Her physical journey ended, but her legacy is remembered for ages.