Hello, CWU! Wildcat Preview Day!

I had been waiting for this day for a while, and if finally arrived!

Wildcat Preview Day! The day where we get to tour Central Washington University! 

Another to-do we are able to mark ta-done! 

Friday evening we drove to Ellensburg and got a hotel for the night. After having a delicious breakfast at a little breakfast joint the next morning, we arrived a little early to campus, and I'm super glad we did.

First on the docket,  a campus tour. We were able to snag a tour of CWU's campus with one of the tour guides with only one other student. Which was AMAZING. You should have seen how large the groups were just a little while later once things really got going. I'm talking 50+ people. I'm SO glad it was just us and one other future student. We were able to ask so many questions and truly had a great time. 

After the campus tour, we hopped in the car and drove to the airfield where we got a small tour of the airplanes and chatted with a current Professional Pilot BS student. This was super fun, and Anthony got to climb in one of the planes. I loved watching him get excited. While we were there, we also got to see the Governor of Washington fly in, as he was to give a speech later in the day on campus. 

Right now, Anthony is set up to major in Aviation Management. We are just waiting on the end of May to head back to campus for a meeting with his Advisor to pick classes. It's a whole other process to get into the Professional Pilots Program, which is ultimately what he wants to do. In October we filled out the application and essay, and submitted everything. It's a very competitive process. There are only 65 spots available, and I have been told by his Advisor that over 200+ people applied this cycle. This doesn't surprise me, as CWU has one of the best flight training programs in Washington. 

If Anthony doesn't get in this cycle, it's no big deal. Aviation Management and the Professional Pilots Program have a lot of overlapping core classes. So Anthony will just work on those core classes, and then reapply to the Professional Pilots Program the next cycle. In the meantime, he could log flight hours at a place out of Yakima. With any luck, he'll eventually get in the program. But if worse case scenario happens and he never gets in the program any of the years he applies, he will still leave CWU with a BS in Aviation Management, which allows for a whole bunch of different career paths, and there are plenty of other avenues to explore for getting his private pilot license during the same time or afterwards.

We don't have to have all of the answers or have the full path layed out now. For now, we are moving forward with his Aviation Management BS, and like I said, will get his classes squared away in May! 

After the flight field tour, we headed back to the main campus building, the SURC, for speeches from CWU's President, and from the Governor of Washington. Afterwards, we enjoyed a free meal from the mess hall in the SURC, then checked out some informational booths about meal plans, Veterans Affairs, clubs, the gym, etc. We got a lot of questions answered, and received a whole bunch of helpful information. 

The last thing we wanted to make sure we did was get a tour of Wendell Hill Hall B, which is the Aviation Living Learning Center. Anthony applied to live in that housing dorm, and he got in!! So we are SUPER excited about that, because not everyone who is in the Aviation field and requests to live there gets to due to space. Now we are just waiting for his room and room mate assignment. (I didn't take any pics of the dorm tour). 

After the dorm tour, we were on our own and felt we had done everything we needed to do....except see the library!! So on our way back to the car, we swung in to check the library out. It's huge, and beautiful, and will be a great resource for Anthony. I'm glad we took the time to stop in. 

We definitely had an amazing day. I actually had the BEST day, and left CWU wishing I could go there, lol. I love the atmosphere of the campus. I love how open, diverse, and inclusive the community is. You can tell the President of CWU loves his school, and the students do too. I'm excited for Anthony to be a part of that. 

I hope doing this Wildcat Preview Day made Anthony feel more comfortable, confident, and excited. I'm glad we get to go back in May when we meet with his Advisor. I think the more solid the plan becomes, and the more times he is there, the better off he will be mentally and emotionally. 

Thanks for a great day, CWU! 

With love,

Mama Hauck