Enrollment, interest climbing as Parkland hits fifth year at helm

In a few years, Kyle Schum will likely set foot in the cockpit of a commercial plane and take a seat in a pilot’s chair. But when he graduated a semester early from Mahomet-Seymour High School in December of 2016, he wasn’t sure what career path he wanted to take. Maybe he’d become a doctor or a lawyer, he thought, but aviation never crossed his mind.

Because it was the middle of the school year, he decided to get a jump-start on his college education at Parkland College.

“I came here to Parkland College because I graduated early and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, like most 17-, 18-year-olds,” he said.

That’s when he learned about the Institute of Aviation, which Parkland took over from Illinois five years ago.

Although his father took him to a few air shows when he was younger, Schum had no background in flying planes. But he decided to give it a try.

“I really didn’t have much knowledge of it,” he said. “I think I played around on a Microsoft Flight Simulator a little bit. ... I came into it a little unsure.

“But once I got into it, I really, really enjoyed it. Loved the flying portion of it, loved the knowledge portion of it. And here I am today.”

To read the full article courtesy of the News-Gazette see: https://www.news-gazette.com/news/institute-of-aviation-program-at-parkland-is-really-taking-off/article_94072866-812f-5537-a02a-e6a4232fdabc.html.