“When am I ever going to use this?” This is a common question that I have asked from time to time, especially in high school. Thankfully, I have begun to ask this questions less and less as I have worked my way through the business classes.

Many of the professors explain from the get-go how we will use what we learn through real-world application and talking about their experiences. However, my Airport Management Professors has taken it to a whole new level.

My Airport Management class is a three hour evening class that is once a week; it is taught by an adjunct professor who is an alum and currently works full-time for an airport planning firm. It might sound like a bore, especially at that time, but he keeps it very entertaining which means that class passes very quickly.

The first several lectures we learned the basics such as the process of the airport master plan, how airport projects are financed, the FAA, and what goes into the design of an airport. Just last week, we spent the whole class talking about one of the projects he is working on, and it connected all of the dots. We watched a recording of him presenting to the public during a city meeting, and after all of the previous classes, it was easy to understand the presentation and what was going on. He also brought in real drawings and plans to show us what the Airport Master Plan (a book with all of the current stats of the airport and plans for the future) as well as the actual drawings for a new airport terminal.

We also begin each class by discussing current events; it is a great way to start off the class because we are talking about relevant topics that are going on the in the aviation industry. Unfortunately, this is something that a lot of professors do not really pick up or do in class.

It is professors like him that remind me that I made a very good decision to attend Embry-Riddle.