Laurel Smith Email & Phone Number

As a military child, I had the opportunity to live in many places across the U.S. Yet, I like to say that I am from Virginia because that is where my family spent the majority of my father's career. He was a Strategic Intelligence Officer for the Army.I attended John Champe High School in Loudoun County, Virginia, where I graduated with a 4.24 GPA. While there I was heavily involved in the technical theater program, where I started as props manager, then worked up to become the technical director for my last two years of high school. I earned an academic scholarship to Southern Utah University where I began a degree in Communications and Media Studies. At the end of my freshman year I had the opportunity to do a study abroad class focusing in Intercultural Communications in New Zealand.I opted in the summer of 2019 to defer my next 3 semesters to serve a service mission in Costa Rica. There I learned passable Spanish and a drive for volunteer service. I had been in Costa Rica for only about four months when me and all other missionaries had to be evacuated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.I am now in Colorado Springs, currently developing multiple skill sets as a college student and a pilot in training. Because of the experiences I had in New Zealand and in Costa Rica, both very sustainably-focused countries, as well as the growing importance to protect our planet, I transferred to Oregon State University, where i have been working on a BS in Natural Resource Management. In February of 2022, I began training to become a commercially certified and instrument rated pilot. I received my private pilot certificate in July and my instrument rating in December. I am now in the final stage of the program to receive my commercial certificate in the hopes of eventually working as an airline pilot.In the meantime between receiving my degree and flying for hire, I am looking to expand my work experience while utilizing the skills, knowledge, and drive I have developed as both a student dedicated to protecting the Earth's resources and the discipline required of a professional pilot.