Mercer County Community College student, Paige McCloskey, never imagined nor never wanted to attend college. After careful consideration, she decided to join MCCC’s Aviation Program and fell in love with the program after taking intro to flight at Infinity Flight Club. It took her two and a half years to complete the program and is now preparing to leave for training to be a 1st Officer with Regional Airlines in just a few days.

McCloskey said, “The relationship between the College and Infinity is incredible! All plane maintenance is always up to date and is one of the biggest flight schools in this area.”

MCCC and Infinity Flight Club partner together to set each student up to succeed by making it more accessible for students to obtain jobs after earning their degrees. After students complete their degrees at MCCC they then spend 2 weeks in North Carolina for an accelerate program. After completing this process, McCloskey knew when she returned home, she would have a job with Infinity.

During her time with the Aviation Program, McCloskey was also able to convince a high school student to dual enroll so he can possibly complete the program by the time he graduates high school. The program can definitely be time consuming and you have to put in the work, but her biggest piece of advice is to just give the program a try. She explains, “Everyone in the program is extremely helpful even if you have doubt of whether or not the program is for you.”

After being one of the youngest in the program and one of the two women in her graduating class, McCloskey is ready to start her career as a 1st Officer.