Kristina Fulton has always been interested in flying, but it’s only grown since she’s started the professional pilot program at Southeast Missouri State University.
Fulton has completely immersed herself in the opportunities Southeast has to offer in aviation, including using this summer to her advantage to increase her flight hours.
It’s what she’s been imagining since she was a kid.
“When I was six, I visited the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs with my family and really got my first introduction to aviation,” Fulton said. “For many years, I didn’t think it was a realistic goal.”
That was until Fulton found SEMO’s professional pilot program. She made it a goal to get there, and she has. Now, she’s a rising junior and she’s using her time to increase her experience.
She’s enrolled in a summer course, Commercial Pilot Lab, and she’s working on her commercial pilot license.
“Right now, I’m doing a lot of time building,” Fulton said. “Which means I’m doing solo cross countries that are more than 100 nautical miles from point to point. Because I am flying over the summer, I am hoping to get my commercial pilot license by December. That would allow me to get my flight instructor rating by this time next spring, and hopefully be able to graduate a year early.”
Southeast’s professional pilot program launched fall 2022, and Southeast just approved the addition of an aviation management degree. These two degrees address a projected need for pilots and professionals in the aviation industry in the coming years.
It’s also allowed students like Fulton to grab extra opportunities.
“I think it is quite amazing that our program is expanding so rapidly,” Fulton said. “Southeast is quite unique in what it offers pilots. A big advantage is how small it is compared to other schools, because that helps keep class sizes and wait times at the airport down.”
Fulton also credits the tuition at Southeast for helping her along.
“Flying is expensive,” Fulton said. “Southeast’s tuition makes being a pilot actually possible. Personally speaking, if not for Southeast’s tuition and scholarship opportunities, I would not be able to be a pilot.”
For now, she’s busy getting all the hours in the sky that she can. Fulton has lofty goals before she graduates, and she’s using every opportunity she can find to reach them.
And overall, reach a dream she’s had since she was six.
“My favorite part of flying so far has been the world and community that has been opened up to me,” Fulton said. “Through the general aviation community, I am meeting new people from places all over the region. There are stories I would have never heard or experienced if not for flying.”