"THE QUEEN OF THE AIR”

"The woman who can create her own job is the woman who will win fame and fortune "

Can you guess who said this quote?

My favorite leader. She was a very famous woman but soon she was forgotten by history. You
are right she is Amelia Earhart (1897-1937.

Amelia is an American aviator and a pioneer. She didn’t only set records for flight but also for
her bestselling books about her flight experience.

Her mom used to tell her to do something different unlike the other girls when they were
young.She never encouraged them to sit around and do nothing. Amelia was really brave in her
young age. Once she jumped from a tall roof to experience ‘flying’
She was a little bruised but it was totally worth it.

Amelia‘s mom left a big impact on her. Amelia was the first woman to fly solo and nonstop
across the Atlantic ocean in 1932 (as a pilot)*and the first person to fly solo and nonstop (as a
pilot) from Hawaii to the US mainland California. It was a 2,400 miles dangerous flight that had
already claimed several people's lives.

Amelia found the 99s. It is an international women pilots organization. It provides scholarship
and flight education for women. Amelia became its first president thanks to her lead; it is still
running.

At the age of 23 Amelia went to Toronto. At that time she saw a lot of soldiers who were injured
because of World War I. They were suffering from the Spanish flu. Amelia felt sorry for them. To
look after them she joined as a nurse. Amelia herself had some serious health problems so she
had to stay in the hospital for a long period of time. During that time she felt very bored to pass
the time she read a lot of mechanical engineering books. In her free time Amelia used to attend
an air show with her father. She got a chance to fly with a very famous pilot, Frank Hawk, she
took her first ride in an airplane. This is when her desire to fly sprouted. By the time she landed
she was determined to become a pilot. At that time women pilots were very rare to see.
Amelia has her first flying lesson with pilot Neta Snook (She was the first woman aviator in Iowa,
first woman student accepted at the Curtiss Flying School in Virginia.) Neta snook wrote a book
called I taught Amelia to fly. At the age of 25 she became a good pilot. She cut her hair short so
it wouldn’t attract male pilots. She didn’t show any interest in making her beautiful.

She is the 16th licensed woman pilot in the US and she also became Elenor Roosevelt (the first
lady)'s favorite. She flew across the Atlantic ocean as a passenger; she did not feel happy; she
said that she felt like a sack of potatoes . But many thought that a woman flying as a passenger
across the big Atlantic ocean was a wonderful achievement . Amelia didn’t think so. She wanted
to do more than that. She was determined to fly across the Atlantic Ocean as a pilot. And she
did* !

Do you think Amelia didn’t do anything more ? Then you are wrong . She set many records, one
of them is when she set the record for the highest flight in 1922. She flew 4300m high.

Amelia became a role model for everyone. Her courage, success and determination made a
wonderful topic for directors and authors.
Amelia took a great part in the equal rights movement. Being a pilot means you must wear
comfortable clothes so Amelia wore pants ( which was also very rare) and made it a fashion for
women to wear pants.

Read this quote which Amelia told:

“ Women like men should try to do the impossible and they fail their failure should be a
challenge for others”

This was also true in Amelia’s life. She had one more big record to set and that was the first
person to circumnavigate the globe. She tried and failed, after her idea to circumnavigate the
globe many people tried to do it and it was a very hard challenge.
This leads me to tell you about her disappearance.

At the age of 39 Amelia disappeared when she was trying to circumnavigate the globe. Many
say that she was killed in World War II or she drowned in the river. When others argue that she
changed her identity. Her plane should’ve possibly crashed on a river. Scientists and
researchers are still researching her disappearance.

According to me the biggest success Amelia did was creating many women pilots who are
courageous like her. After knowing about her even I want to be a pilot

She made me believe:

“ that success isn’t a destiny but a journey”

Thank you for reading

- samyuktha Senthilkumaran
7A Rajagiri public school Doha, Qatar