![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Neal-Karman-and-Ishitha-Arekapudi-edit.jpg\")
Photo Credit: Bharath Kumar Arekapudi <\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
As a passionate space enthusiast, Ishitha is also a staunch\nambassador for promoting aviation and space exploration. She is the founder and\nPresident of SkyRider’s, an organization dedicated to spreading aviation and\nspace opportunities and knowledge among youth. Furthermore, Ishitha actively\ncontributes as a valuable member of the Northshore Civil Air Patrol Squadron,\nholding a Sergeant position, and participating in the Red Tailed Hawk Pilot\nprogram. Her commitment to learning and sharing her passion for space and\naviation is truly commendable. Additionally, she serves as the Official Youth\nAmbassador for EAA Chapter 84, leveraging social media to disseminate aviation\nnews and foster interest among young individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ishitha Arekapudi is immensely grateful for the unwavering\nsupport and guidance she received from her instructors, Eric Haupt and\nLawrence. Eric Haupt, the instructor who signed her off for the Solo, went\nabove and beyond, providing exceptional support and training. Ishitha deeply\nappreciates Eric’s voluntary dedication and considers herself indebted to him\nfor his invaluable assistance. Additionally, Lawrence, another instructor,\ngenerously shared his wisdom, boosting Ishitha’s confidence when she needed it\nthe most. Their contributions played a significant role in Ishitha’s\nachievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These milestones would not have been possible without the\nsupport of Ishitha’s parents, sister, all volunteers in Evergreen Soaring Club\nand the organizations that have awarded her scholarships, including Soaring\nSociety of America, Women\u2019s soaring pilots association, and 1-26 Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ishitha’s journey towards achieving her Glider Pilot License\nhas been filled with twists and challenges, but she remained undeterred.\nAccessibility to training proved to be a significant hurdle, requiring her to\nwork with six different instructors and face limited weekend operations, which\nreduced her training opportunities. Despite these obstacles, Ishitha’s\ndetermination and positive mindset propelled her forward. She is an inspiration\nto youth, having not only overcome challenges but also achieved her goals with\nunwavering passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Driven by a desire to inspire others, Ishitha shares her\nstory and spreads her joy and passion for aviation among teenagers. She founded\nand currently leads the Sky Riders Club at Inglemoor High School, a platform\naimed at promoting flying and providing opportunities for teenagers to pursue\ntheir dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can follow Ishitha’s extraordinary journey on Instagram\nat @nasa.starbound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ishitha expresses her profound gratitude to everyone who\nsupported her in achieving this momentous milestone, and she finds it\nchallenging to put into words the immense happiness she feels. She is truly\n“FLYING HIGH.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ishitha Arekapudi, a determined and visionary 16-year-old from Washington, has reached another milestone on her journey to become an Astronaut, defying all the odds by attaining her Glider Pilot License. Ishitha’s ultimate dream is to become an Astronaut, and she has tirelessly pursued this path against all challenges with unwavering focus. Her achievements include her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144,98,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aerospace-education","category-aviation-education","category-washington"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26161,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26159\/revisions\/26161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}