In mid-May, six new Able Flight scholarship recipients will arrive at Southern Illinois University (SIU) to begin their life-changing journey of becoming a pilot. They will travel from Maine, California, Tennessee, Ohio and Colorado, and they will arrive with personal stories of challenge, determination and an eagerness to test themselves through Able Flight’s intensive flight training program.
Weather permitting, within twenty four hours of meeting their classmates and instructors, they will be on their first training flight, one of many to come over the following two months. At the end of flight lessons they’ll go for their check rides.
Receiving flight training scholarships this year are Austin Trozp of Ohio, Aerin Wheeler of California, Methode Nezerwa of Colorado, Ethan March of Maine, Ryan Baker of California and Jeffrey Garrett of Tennessee. The new student pilots have already received their online ground school course courtesy of Sporty’s Pilot Shop, and over the next four months they’ll prepare for their written exams with the assistance of a live remote instructor from SIU. They’ll be required to take and pass their written exam prior to arriving at SIU, and will continually review the ground school materials throughout training.
Austin Trzop of Ohio had dreams of a life in aviation when an accident left him a quadriplegic. The former athlete then faced the decision of how to live his new life, and he chose to return to school with a plan to earn an engineering degree. He first graduated Magna Cum Laude from Kent State, and is now enrolled in advanced studies at Akron University with hopes of a career in aviation engineering. A veteran, Austin has served as a peer mentor at the Cleveland VA and has returned to athletic pursuits as a member of the Ohio Buckeye Blitz wheelchair rugby team.
With his challenges and his successes, Austin has consistently kept one major goal in front of him; the goal of being in the air as a pilot. He has no illusions as to how difficult the task will be, but is driven by his belief in his abilities and the rewards ahead when he achieves that goal. In his essay for his scholarship application, Austin summed up his need to fly this way: “I want to be in the sky not just as an observer, but as someone who understands the mechanics, the responsibility, and the joy of flight.”
Aerin Wheeler of California suffered a knee injury as a child, an injury that wasn’t properly treated. That, along with a later diagnosis of an immune system disease, has led to a life of reduced mobility, often requiring the use of a wheelchair. Then, in 2023, Aerin was assaulted by a family member who threw a chemical onto her, burning her and leaving her with a painful skin condition.
Through it all Aerin has persevered, graduating from both Santa Monica College and later the University of Pennsylvania, earning a place on the Dean’s List at both institutions. Her desire to continue her education, this time in aviation, was spurred in part by hearing about her grandfather’s work as an aeronautical engineer for NASA and the FAA. Then, when she had the opportunity to take an introductory flight just a few years ago, Aerin’s life took another turn, this time towards a new and welcome challenge, becoming a pilot. She has big goals for herself as a pilot, and with an Able Flight Scholarship and first-class instruction at SIU, she now has the opportunity to achieve those goals.
Methode Nezerwa of Colorado has had a unique pathway to Able Flight. When he arrives at SIU in May as a member of the “Class of 2026”, being on a university campus will not seem unusual to him. In 2024 he earned his Masters of Clinical Science Pharmacy from the University of Colorado, and that followed a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy in 2013 from the University of Rwanda. Now a U.S. citizen, Methode was one of the many children who suffered in Rwanda’s tragic civil war from 1990 to 1994. During that conflict hundreds of thousands of Rwandans died and many more were injured. The injured included Methode who lost his left leg as a result of the conflict.
In his application for an Able Flight Scholarship, Methode wrote, “I believe that earning a sport pilot certificate with Able Flight could be my initial step in my dream of landing a career as an emergency medical services pilot… I want to further challenge my physical limitations by mastering the most dedicated and complicated skill of controlling an aircraft.”
Ethan March of Maine was working as a solar installer when he fell from a roof, fracturing his spine resulting in complete paraplegia. The accident occurred not long after he had graduated from a community college, and was shortly after he had taken introductory flights in a helicopter. After those flights, Ethan had begun to explore the possibility of earning a pilot certificate and eventually flying as a search and rescue pilot.
After his injury, he went through rehab, and chose to live independently instead of relying on family for housing and care during such a challenging time. This did not surprise Ethan’s father Brian who, in his letter accompany Ethan’s scholarship application wrote, “His amazing gifts of soul and spirit are still intact in spite of his new challenges. He is meeting them head on and taking care of business!”
This young man whose life had been filled with rock climbing, mountain biking, sea kayaking and hiking the White Mountains now enters a new time of intense challenge, the hard work ahead as he comes a pilot.
Ryan Baker of California became a paraplegic the day after his high school graduation. A passenger in a car, he was asleep when the accident happened, awakening later to learn of his injury. With the support of family and friends, and a great deal of determination, Ryan progressed through rehab, looking ahead to a life far different than the one he had envisioned just months earlier when he was a member of his high school soccer team as they won the state championship.
Later he would graduate from college, and for years, he and his friend Bill Lundstrom were active in golf, wheelchair tennis and biking. But they missed team sports, so in 2009 they founded Wheelchair Lacrosse USA (WLUSA). Wheelchair Lacrosse USA grew into a national organization with teams and tournaments throughout the country. At the same time he worked for a nationally-known company that made and marketed wheels for wheelchairs, and in 2021 he became Director of Sales and Marketing for Vapor Wheels, another company making specialized wheels for chairs.
When he arrives at SIU to train for his pilot certificate, Ryan will be the senior member of the Class of 2026, a distinction that he welcomes as he takes on yet another challenge. But this time, it will mean leaving his chair on the ground as he takes flight.
Jeffrey Garrett of Tennessee is already a Private Pilot, a certificate he earned more than 20 years ago. Why was he awarded an Able Flight Scholarship? The answer is simple. In 2006 Jeffrey was appointed to attend the United States Air Force Academy with a full ride scholarship, and was scheduled to graduate in 2010 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. But a 56 foot fall while rock climbing during his time at the Academy left him with multiple injuries that ended his hopes of a flying career. He was in a coma for six weeks, and faced years of rehab.
After rehab, he returned to Tennessee where he enrolled in a university and earned a degree in mathematics, followed by a masters in teaching, and soon he turned to teaching at the high school level. Later he would become an assistant principal, then in 2023 he became an aviation instructor at Cleveland High School in Cleveland, TN where he has helped build that program by successfully securing grants to benefit his students with intro flights and flight lessons. Now, he will be the first Able Flight Scholarship recipient given the opportunity to train to become a flight instructor, in this case a Sport Pilot Instructor, a certification that he hopes will allow him to not only teach in the classroom, but to teach in the plane.