From the day she discovered the career path on social media, senior Molly Healy has been determined to become a Navy fighter pilot.

Healy knew she wanted to be a fighter pilot after watching an Instagram edit. Despite her immediate interest at age 14, she was disappointed to learn she had to wait to do official training because in the United States, you must be 16 to fly a plane on your own. 

Healy stated this interest in flying was something she should have seen coming. “As a kid, I always loved to be in airports. I loved going on slides. I just never pictured myself in the pilot seat until I came across that edit.”

In the summer of 2024, after two years of waiting, Healy was ready to start the steps to becoming a pilot. First, she had to obtain her private pilot’s license, which requires 40 hours of flight time. But her first goal was simpler; she just wanted to fly for the first time. She took off from a flight school her cousin owned, and the experience is something she will remember forever.

Healy’s first flight reassured her that this dream was meant to be. During the long waiting period between discovering this career path and her first time in the air, she wondered if it was a “fleeting passion,” but that summer, she cemented that it would be her  future profession.

Since then, Healy has forged a path to becoming a fighter pilot. She is halfway to obtaining her private pilot’s license, and plans to be an aeronautical science flight major at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She also intends to join the Naval Reserve Training Corps during college.

Healy has faced many obstacles on her journey to becoming a Navy fighter pilot, but she has stuck to her motto: “When passion and motivation are fleeting, dedication takes over.”