Recent Hahnville High graduate Lauren Steverson spent her 2023 summer doing something out of the ordinary for a college-bound high school graduate – she earned her private pilot’s license at Texas Southern University as part of the LA-993 Hahnville High School Air Fore Junior ROTC program.
The St. Charles Parish native said she was attracted to flying from as early as second grade, and the desire never left her. While she does not have a military family background, her desire to fly has since steered her into the direction of a military aviation career.
“I’ve wanted to be a pilot for – I’d say the majority of my life, and this [ROTC] program completely covered my cost of getting a private pilot’s license, which is a very expensive thing to do,” Steverson said. “I had been looking into paying for it on my own, and it just wasn’t feasible without any sort of financial aid, so it was really, really nice.”
Steverson was named Cadet Flight Commander of Hahnville High’s Air Force Junior ROTC (AFJROTC) program, winning a scholarship to attend an eight-week Flight Academy course through the Air Force. She was one of just 300 JRTOC scholarship recipients selected to attend the program at Texas Southern University this summer out of more than 1,500 applicants nationwide. The JROTC cadet was selected based on her high school GPA of 3.0 or higher, a fitness score in the upper half of cadets she competed against and completion of an Aircrew Qualification Test, which tests how cadets solve problems.
“As part of successfully completing the program, she received her private pilot’s license and six college credits,” Richard Lochren Jr, Air Force Senior Aerospace Science Instructor, said. “A private pilot’s certification allows an individual to fly a private aircraft anywhere as long as they are in compliance with the airspace regulations set by the country of destination.”
The Air Force paired with Texas Southern University for this summer’s program, given the Houston-area university also has an established aviation program. Cadets like Steverson from all over the country stayed in dorms on campus, attending a varied combination of ground school classes and flight lessons every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Better than getting her pilot’s license, Steverson said, was the chance to network with so many other like-minded aviators and aviation industry contacts through the JROTC program, some of those contacts just beginning their aviation careers like her.
“I would say the best the best thing [about the eight-week program] was just being there, honestly – not even the actual flying, but getting to make connections with the people there,” Steverson said. “Seeing the different people that worked at the airport, we had a lot of really cool military aircraft – it was just overall a really positive experience.”
Starting this fall, Steverson will be going to Norwich University, a private senior military college in Vermont she is attending via a separate scholarship.
She said her ultimate career goal after college is to become a United States Navy pilot. To become a Navy pilot, she will still have to compete with other cadets like herself. One of the key requirements to be considered for a Navy pilot slot is to earn 60 initial flight hours, of which she has already earned 45 documented flight hours. Without owning her own plane, racking up so many flight hours on her own would have been quite pricey, and is yet another way the JROTC program has helped advance her training.
“Getting to 45 [hours] completely paid for, that significantly increases my changes of getting a pilot slot later on,” Steverson said.
Steverson mentioned following her military service, she hopes to continue her career in aviation, and possibly one day become an airline pilot.
“I just want to fly planes,” Steverson said of her career aspirations. “I’m very appreciative of the Air Force for having programs like this – the nation is facing a massive pilot shortage, and programs like this are really going to help in the long run.”
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