A love of aviation has led one student on campus to pursue a hobby that has him soaring like a Redhawk.

While many high school students are pursuing their driver’s licenses, senior Anshul Patil is training to get his pilot’s license.

His love of aviation prompted him to begin taking lessons last summer.

“I started flying around June of 2021, I had my first discovery flight with an instructor,” Patil said. “I’ve been passionate about aviation for a pretty long time so I thought I’d pick it up and start flying. I like having the freedom to fly wherever I want and the sunrise and sunset views are really nice.”

For Patil, his favorite part about flying is seeing everything from a new perspective.

“I like having the freedom to fly wherever I want and the sunrise and sunset views are really nice,” Patil said. “It was just the amount of freedom you have in the sky and you can basically go wherever and it’s really peaceful up there. ”

But it’s not like he can just sit back and take a ride.

“The hardest part is definitely multitasking,” he said. “You have to navigate and talk to air traffic control and stuff.”