In 1922 Bessie Coleman became the first African American woman to receive her pilot license. She did not earn her certification here in America though, because flight schools repeatedly denied to train her due to her race and gender. Bessie took it upon herself to overcome this by learning french and then traveling across the world to receive her training in France. The amazing part of this feat was that Bessie earned her license in just 7 months which is very quick. She quickly became specialized in stunt flying and parachuting. When she returned back to the US in 1922 she became the first African American woman to fly publicly. Unfortunately Bessie was taken very shortly after her career started, when in 1926 she was killed in an accident practicing a stunt for one of her shows. She was only 34 years old.

While Bessie’s career was short-lived, she still did a ton for the aviation industry. Defying the odds and getting her license despite the trouble she experienced, and then going on to performing stunts and parachuting skills for crowds all across the country inspired not only women but other African Americans too to take up a career in aviation, not only broadening our own industry, but advancing the Civil Rights Movement as well. I think its amazing that someone could train only 7 months and then quickly transition into doing stunts on such a rudimentary aircraft. She is a big inspiration to me after reading her story, as I had never heard of her before today.

So probably the most exciting vacation I ever went on was during the summer of my senior year. My whole family went down to San Antonio Texas where my sister and I were born, and we were finally able to see the area, since a lot had changed since we had last been there. We stayed at a nice hotel right on the Riverwalk, and each day was a new experience. The first day we just walked around the city, looking at the different touristy shops, most of which had cowboy hats and boots so obviously we all got a pair of each. We ate at a different place for every meal, whether it was Mexican, classic Texas barbecue, or one of the many hole-in-the-wall places that exist in the city. The second day we got a tour of the Alamo, which was really special because in the middle of our tour, everything stopped around us and all the people outside stood still. There was no noise outside and we were wondering what was going on, when a funeral procession for a fallen firefighter passed by. Locals told us it was the first firefighter the city had lost in 20 years. Seeing how bonded the community was with each other that they all stopped for this firefighter showed me why I have an innate love for Texas and my home in San Antonio.