Hello everyone,

I am currently on my fourth week at ALPA, and it’s been such a rewarding experience so far! I was very fortunate to attend the Pilot Assistance Forum (May 22-24). We had a banquet too, which was held at the Udvar- Hazy Air & Space Museum. I got to talk to some of my biggest role models in the aviation industry about my future career goals and their experiences- Honourable Robert Sumwalt, Acting Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Lori Garver, General Manager of ALPA, who also served as the Deputy Administrator of NASA!

Photo with Lori Garver in front of Space Shuttle Discovery

Photo with Honourable Robert Sumwalt- Acting Chairman of the NTSB

In front of the Air France Concorde at the Udvar- Hazy Air & Space Museum

Brent (my boyfriend) spent Memorial Day weekend with me. We drove to D.C., and then rented out bicycles since parking can be super hectic! We visited many memorials there, and also visited the National Archives Museum. As an international kid, it was pretty cool seeing all the actual documents (Bill of Rights, Constitution, etc.). We also visited the Udvar- Hazy Air & Space Museum (which was my second time then). It was pretty cool since his favourite aircraft is Lockheed SR- 71 aka “Blackbird”.

In front of the SR- 71

Brent and I in front of Discovery

Posing with Brent near the Franklin Roosevelt statue

One of my meetings last week was at Capitol Hill. It was pretty interesting. We talked with the House Aviation Subcommittee about reauthorizing and making some changes to the existing bill. I also had a great opportunity to attend a meeting with GoogleX this week to talk about their plans of incorporating UAS technology in their industry.

Meeting at Capitol Hill

Meeting at Google office in D.C.

I have so many more events coming up, and I’m definitely excited to be with ALPA for the rest of the summer. In addition to my internship at ALPA, I am currently doing an independent study course with Riddle. My first exam was on Tuesday, and I did great!!!

I hope you all are having a great and relaxing summer!

Until next time,

Maryam