In this episode, Campus Manager Kimberly Whipps and Chief Instructor Eric discuss campus culture and student life. They cover exploring the Pacific Northwest and ways to connect with other students during your time at Hillsboro Heli Academy.
Eric (00:00):
Hey guys. Eric Doughtie here, Chief Instructor with Hillsboro Heli Academy.
Kimberly (00:32):
And I'm Kimberly Whipps. I am the Campus Manager here.
Kimberly (00:35):
So today we're, uh, talking about one of Kimberly and I's favorite topics, and that is, uh, our, our overall student. But I think our, our larger, uh, campus culture and some of the events and some of the things that, uh, that we so enjoy doing throughout the year with, with each other as, as students and instructors and staff and as pilots.
Kimberly (00:55):
The Heli family.
Eric (00:57):
The Heli family, family, uh, and yeah. You know, Kimberly, let's start it out. You know, you've been here a little bit longer than I have. You started in 2018. Right? Right. How has that experience been and how has it kind of grown into what it is now today? And what's kind of your favorite, favorite parts of, of, uh, of this culture that we have at this school?
Kimberly (01:17):
Okay. So when I first started here, this, it was very different. We were still a rotor wing and fixed wing campus. Um, we had, um, our China program was still here at the time, which is actually what brought me here. Um, I started as a volunteer in the English classes for the, the Chinese students, and then ended up getting a part-time job here. And it just kinda snowballed from there. But it was very different. Um, there was definitely segregation. There were some, the Chinese students and there were some domestic students. And then, you know, they didn't really, um, mesh very well. We also had the fixed wing pilots and the rotor wing pilots. And well, you know, they, they didn't mesh very well.
Eric (01:56):
Natural born rivalry
Kimberly (01:58):
Right there. Yeah, exactly. Um, so things really changed, uh, in 2019 when the campuses, you know, Hillsboro and Redmond became the fixed wing, and Troutdale became just the rotor wing. Um, so we immediately saw differences there, because now all the pilots were on the same page. Um, but also at that time, we really started to focus more on student life here. And the culture we wanted on this campus. And we wanted it to feel more like a college experience and more like a family. Yeah. So we took the barbecues. When the barbecues used to happen, people would come, we'd all get together, we'd get the food. And then I noticed that people would go off. Some people would go off in this classroom, and other people would go over here and sit down. And I was like, well, this isn't very family-like, so we started encouraging people to come and stay. We started having, um, you know, we would announce stuff at the barbecue so that people, there was a reason for people to stay. And then it started getting really fun. We'd play games. We had the cornhole going, you know, there was always a little bit more to do. Um, and so barbecues really changed. And did you came in, were the barbecues fairly established or?
Eric (03:05):
Yes. I actually, my first day, my first orientation day, uh, we had the barbecue in the big classroom. We had hamburgers. And
Kimberly (03:16):
Was it winter?
Eric (03:16):
It was, yeah, it was January.
Kimberly (03:18):
Oh, okay. Okay.
Eric (03:19):
It was January, 2020. And I came in and we had a barbecue. And then we all sat down. And then I did, I did my first flight, uh, after the barbecue.
Kimberly (03:27):
So you weren't even a student?
Eric (03:28):
No, I was a student. I was a student.
Kimberly (03:29):
Oh, you were?
Eric (03:30):
Yeah. That was my orientation day.
Kimberly (03:31):
Oh, orientation.
Eric (03:33):
Um, and got, so I came in, you know, we did the whole orientation thing. I sat with my instructor, and then we had the barbecue, and then I flew in the evening. And, uh, it was,
Kimberly (03:41):
That's a big day.
Eric (03:42):
It was, yeah. Orientation day. Holy smokes. We'll do a full podcast on what to expect on orientation day. 'cause it's a lot, uh, for everybody. Um, but, but yeah, we were doing the barbecues and, you know, it was a little, you know what, they're just, it is just another thing nowadays. I mean, I, I remember it was you, you served and Malorie served And, um, but it wasn't, it wasn't quite what it is now.
Kimberly (04:09):
Yeah. Now it's, it's mostly student led. Yeah. Students are coming and volunteering, uh, and, and serving other students. Um, and more people get involved. I mean, we, we just did breakfast for lunch. Yep. Our last barbecue. And you had a, uh, you were cooking the eggs and you had what, about eight people standing there watching y'all wondering, what can I do to help? Can I direct you all,
Eric (04:33):
All, all judging on how I was flipping those eggs? That's for sure.
Kimberly (04:36):
That's right. That's right. Did you salt them yet?
Eric (04:39):
I did. I forgot every single time. Thank you for the salt. Uh, yeah. No, it's, it's super fun. So we get volunteers every week, uh, or every month. When we do it, we do 'em every month. And I, I, you know, we're not super hard pressed to get student volunteers either. It's, it, we mostly have, uh, a bunch of people jump in and volunteer. And I think we turn people away. 'cause you're like, no, you did it last month. So
Kimberly (05:04):
Like, or, or it's like, Hey, what else can I do? I'm like, well, it, it's being done.
Eric (05:08):
It's, it's great.
Kimberly (05:09):
We got it.
Eric (05:09):
But, but that's great. I think that's like a, a symptom of, you know, how our culture's developed. Right. We bring, we bring people in, we do it in the hangar, now we open the doors. Right. Um, it's not, it's a community event. Yeah. Right. Um, it's, it's not just us kind of serving our students. It's, you know, we're serving and doing life with each other. And I think that's, that's really fun.
Kimberly (05:33):
It's fun too. 'cause uh, some students will bring their, uh, maybe their significant other or if Oh yeah. You know, we've even had some pilots here that had kids. Yeah. You know, so we get these little two, three year olds walking around on the campus with it. That, that's really fun too. Yeah. It's really fun to watch the other students engage with their kids. And I'm sure for, for those parents, that's such a joy too. 'cause I know as a parent, it's just fun to see people who love your kids. That's right. So that's cool.
Eric (05:54):
Yeah. You know, when I first showed up, I was here, uh, I dunno, six, eight months before I actually started my training. I just came and visited the school, had my wife with me, Beth, and we came up and just visited for a weekend. And that was actually the big selling point for me because I just came out, I did a demo and never been here before and never been in the city before. And I remember standing out by the ramp, uh, and my, my CFI at the time was getting the helicopter ready. And I'm sitting at the, you know, out by the ramp. We got the little picnic tables out there. And I had, I don't know, like, not that many people, maybe four or five people around. And they're just talking to me, you know, oh, you're interested in the school. That's awesome. Have you ever been to Portland before?
Eric (06:36):
Have you been ever been to Troutdale before? You know what, you know, what do you think? And all this kinda stuff. And it was so inviting, you know, I, I got opportunities to go hang out that evening. And they wanted to take us to dinner. Right. I got, uh, I got an offer to go do one of the heli camping events. Uh, before it's now that big heli camping event that we do every year. But they were, they were taking a bunch of helicopters out and doing some camping, and they were like, you should come with us. Like, you know, uh, and, and, uh, and even, you know, the instructor that I, that took me on my demo, you know, like hung out with us like for the next like two days. I mean, it was, it was so inviting. And, you know, my, my history coming, you know, leading up to me being here was I was involved in a lot of international communities.
Eric (07:21):
And so the fact that there was a bunch of international students here, I really felt, uh, at home with me. And the fact that, you know, I'm just some random guy that showed up just thinking about doing this thing. And everyone just kind of grabbed me and said, come on in. Yeah. And be a part of what we're doing here was amazing.
Kimberly (07:39):
I love it.
Eric (07:39):
Uh, and it's one of my favorite parts, even still today, of, of what we do here is, you know, we're all, uh, we're all pilots. We're all growing. We're all developing. We're at different stages in our careers and our trainings and all that kinda stuff. But, uh, that there's no boundaries between, between like level of pilots or staff or anybody here. Like when you're here, you're, you, you're part of it. And, and we have, you know, now we have the garage area where students hang out before their flights and play pool and all that kinda stuff.
Eric (08:11):
And that room is always packed. Full students hanging out with each other. We have students, you know, off campus that, you know, 95% of them live with, with other students.
Kimberly (08:20):
Right. And 98.
Eric (08:22):
Oh my gosh.
Kimberly (08:23):
There's not many that live alone.
Eric (08:24):
Yeah. Not many that, that live alone, that type of thing. And, and, uh, and it's a community. They do things outside of school. You know, we got the Sandy River all summer long. Somebody's floating the Sandy River with a big group. Yeah. I was invited to go. A couple couple students invited Beth and I to go fishing with them. Uh, just, just two days ago. And, and I'm constantly getting to, oh, let's go do this. Let's go do that. I'm actually, uh, climbing Mount Hood tomorrow. Uh, which, which is is will be interesting. That will be,
Kimberly (08:54):
I can't wait to hear about it.
Eric (08:56):
Very, uh, but I, but I, you know, I, I love that is, you know, I just got a phone call and said, Hey, uh, we're climbing Mount Hood on Saturday and you're coming with us.
Kimberly (09:04):
There you go.
Eric (09:05):
I was like, I really don't have a say so in this.
Kimberly (09:07):
See, and that's one of the things I love. Troutdale Troutdale, a little tiny trout. Like it's, it's just a little city, really. It's not very big. But we are so close to so many things. Yeah. You know, we've got the gorge just 30 minutes this way just filled with waterfalls and hiking. And then we have Mount Hood just about an hour away, which is one of my favorite places in the world. And you can hike for days up there. Literally, uh, you're going to climb Mount Hood and then you drive a little bit further. You know, maybe an hour and a half, two hours, you're at the, you're at the beach. Oh, yeah. You know, and then you can go, you can head south or east and you're hitting desert areas. I mean, there's so much within such a close range that our students aren't just seeing one thing again and again and again, and again, I know when, when I have students that, that leave, they all say, oh, I just missed the area though. Yeah. 'cause it's so green, it's so beautiful. Yes. We get rain, but we have beautiful environment because of that. Yeah. And so, um, yeah. A lot of our students are outdoors a lot.
Eric (10:06):
Oh, absolutely.
Kimberly (10:07):
Even in the, the, you know, the fall and absolutely winter months, they're outside.
Kimberly (10:12):
That's always do.
Eric (10:13):
And they're still, you know, from the day that I showed up here for a demo to, to now still being the, the chief instructor, they are still pulling me out to go do things.
Kimberly (10:21):
Yeah. <laugh>, that's great.
Eric (10:22):
Uh, constantly. And it's great, you know, study and study hard, but you know, when it's, when it's your time off, there's always a group of students going out and doing something and, and having fun. And they, you know, uh, my poor wife, I can't, uh, even count how many evenings we've spent talking about helicopters off campus. And her, she calls it, she just says, y'all just start talking about helicopter and I just zone out just like my poor wife. But that's, that's what it is. You're, you're in an environment with, you know, we're,
Kimberly (10:54):
We're like-minded people.
Eric (10:54):
Like-minded people. We all have similar goals and, and, and, uh, and a common passion, uh, you know, of, of helicopters. But also to learn and grow and, and to have fun. You know, we're doing a fun thing. We should, we should have fun too. Yeah. And so,
Eric (11:11):
I love it.
Kimberly (11:11):
Alright. I, I wanna talk a little bit about some of the things that the school does.
Eric (11:14):
Let's do it.
Kimberly (11:14):
I wanna, I wanna save the heli camping. You've mentioned it. Okay. Let's talk about it towards the end.
Eric (11:18):
All right. We'll save the heli camping.
Kimberly (11:19):
Think it's kinda, yeah. So one of, a couple of the things we do here, uh, we do movie nights.
Eric (11:24):
Movie nights!
Kimberly (11:25):
Typically just once a month.
Eric (11:26):
You started that.
Kimberly (11:27):
I did start that. 'cause I really love movies and I get to pick the movie. Um, I should probably let other people pick the movies too. But, uh, we, we have this very large wraparound couch. We drag it all the students come early, we drag it into classroom one. We set up this large projector, and the entire wall of the classroom is the movie. Um, we have a popcorn machine that we bought for that purpose. We make popcorn, we have, uh, candy. And we sit like, we're in a movie theater together. Together. And we watch a movie. Uh, we watch comedies. We watch horror movies. Uh, we watch sometimes dramas, but most of the time we're watching action movies, things like that.
Eric (12:01):
What, what did we watch for Halloween last year? That was a good one.
Kimberly (12:04):
Tucker and Dale versus Evil Classic.
Eric (12:05):
Oh, that was a great one. Classic.
Kimberly (12:07):
That's it. That's what you get a little classic horror movie with the comedy.
Eric (12:11):
Oh, comedy.
Kimberly (12:12):
It's so funny. Anyway,
Eric (12:12):
I wanna watch that again.
Kimberly (12:13):
That was the very first movie we did. Yeah. Was Tucker Dale versus Evil?
Eric (12:16):
That's a great one to start with.
Kimberly (12:17):
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, and then another thing is, uh, we do game nights. We encourage students to bring their games as well. Uh, we sit in Classroom one and we teach each other to play games. Um, my daughters actually come to that sometimes because they, we we're a game family. So that's another thing that I, I started just fun, you know, playing games. Yeah. Uh, and then of course barbecues. What else do we do?
Eric (12:39):
Uh, well, so we do a lot of, we do a lot of river floats. We do the 4th of July river float. Everyone kind of takes off and floats to Sandy. Um,
Kimberly (12:47):
Where now how long is that? I haven't done it.
Eric (12:50):
You haven haven't done it?
Kimberly (12:51):
No. 'cause I'm with my family, of course. I don't know.
Eric (12:53):
But you floated the river before.
Kimberly (12:54):
I haven't.
Eric (12:54):
What?
Kimberly (12:55):
I know.
Eric (12:55):
How long have You been here?
Kimberly (12:57):
Well, my whole life. Yeah. But anyway, tell, so tell me about it because I haven't done it well. So
Eric (13:02):
I think it's mandatory for you now. It's just, uh, okay. No, no, no. So you start up by, uh, at Dabney Park. Uh, just, just up the, the Sandy, you, you exit Lewis and Clark. You go, you go south a little ways. And it's around, uh, it's a couple hours. It's depending on the flow, but it's anywhere between like two and three hour float.
Kimberly (13:23):
So is the river just like all inner tubes and all students tubes just floating down the river together?
Eric (13:30):
It's all 4th of July. Oh. It's, it's fun. Yeah. And so you'll, you'll tie off, you know, everyone will go, uh, buy like cheap inner tubes. Yeah. You catch, you catch, uh, like Walmart at the right season. They're like eight bucks. It's like, oh, wow. Yeah. They're like really cheap. Uh, but if you wait till the heat of the summer, they're and everyone to are expensive. So everybody like stocks up on tubes. And I, and we have a big hoard of tubes that I, the students have accumulating and just kept in somebody's garage. And so if you don't have a tube, there's a ton of tubes for everybody. And then we just tie, tie off to each other. And then we just, we just jump in.
Kimberly (14:02):
So you're all tied together. All
Eric (14:04):
All tied together and float down.
Kimberly (14:05):
And you're floating down the river together.
Eric (14:06):
It's not rapids or anything like that. Right. It's just Right. It's just chill. We bring some ice chest and, and just float down. Just hang out and have fun.
Kimberly (14:12):
And that's so fun.
Eric (14:13):
And, uh, it's, it's a blast.
Kimberly (14:15):
I I just love those kind of traditions. Like, where did that even, how'd that start? I don't know. But we're still doing it.
Eric (14:20):
We're yeah, we're doing it.
Kimberly (14:21):
If you're listening to this and you are former students that help start that, we wanna know where did it originate?
Eric (14:26):
Yeah. When did we start doing that? 4th of July thing. Yeah. So, oh, it's a bar. And then we usually do the little barbecue after something like that. Right. Uh, at somebody's house. Or we've done a bunch of, we've come back to the school a bunch and just had improv two barbecues. Right. Which those are always so, so fun. I mean, it's just, it's, it just shows of Yeah. The, the, the type of place. This is when you're like, bring out the grills and everyone go buy stuff. Right. And you have like 20, 30 people that are just hanging out, you know, because because they can,
Kimberly (14:57):
That's what so they want and they wanna be together.
Eric (14:58):
That's what we do here. Right?
Kimberly (14:59):
Yeah. Yeah.
Eric (15:00):
Uh, no, that, that one is super fun. Um, what, what, you know. Okay. So we got the game nights. We, we do a lot of things as CFIs too. And we love all you students, I promise. Uh, but it's good for, it's healthy for the CFIs to have a little moment to ourselves. Yes. So we've done, we've done paintball. Yep. We've done.
Kimberly (15:19):
Mini golf.
Eric (15:19):
Uh, mini golf. We've done real golf before. Yes.
Kimberly (15:22):
Um, one year we took 'em all bowling for Christmas when we
Eric (15:24):
Them all bowling. We've done a bunch of big owls drips with Yeah. Students too.
Kimberly (15:29):
We've done that. Yeah. We we did that before. Yeah. We've had Christmas parties with students and Christmas parties with CFIs,
Eric (15:34):
Mario Kart Knights. Yes. At the school here. That was, that was fun.
Kimberly (15:39):
Last Christmas we had all those games cups and rubber bands and oh yeah. All these crazy relays. That was fun.
Eric (15:47):
You know. And then, so in about a week and a half we're doing a CFI, uh, we we're just kind of canceling our meeting and we're just gonna have a little CFI appreciation. We're doing a barbecue and we're playing volleyball together. Yeah.
Eric (16:00):
Oh, that's the other thing. Volleyball. Yes. The park down the road is closed for the summer, unfortunately.
Kimberly (16:06):
Oh, that's right. But
Eric (16:07):
So what did we do?
Kimberly (16:09):
We bought a volleyball night.
Eric (16:10):
We just bought a volleyball night. That's right. That's right. Uh, yeah. 'cause it matters. Yeah. It's, it's fun. It's, um, and it's, it's,
Kimberly (16:18):
You're gonna be a pilot either way. Yeah. You might as well have fun on the path. Yeah. You know, and so we try to make it enjoyable and memorable. You know, my daughters are in college and they're making memories with, with dorm life. And we really try to make it something like that here as well. Yeah. Uh, that they're gonna have, they're gonna go away from this place with memories, lifelong memories, and lifelong friends. That's right. And that's what we've seen. That's right. You know, these people are staying in touch years, years after. It's awesome.
Eric (16:46):
Oh, absolutely. It's awesome. And they'll also say the same thing too, that this was the best Yeah. Season of their.
Kimberly (16:50):
Loved it.
Eric (16:50):
Their career and their lives
Kimberly (16:51):
And Yeah.
Eric (16:52):
And that's, that's special. That's, yeah. That's
Kimberly (16:56):
Alright. Let's, let's talk about heli camping.
Eric (16:57):
Oh, heli camping. Oh, okay. So this was not an exclusive thing that we did, uh, year after year. Uh, we've had a couple in the past heli camping before at some, you know, random airports around.
Kimberly (17:14):
We normally went to the beach.
Eric (17:15):
We, yeah. I, it was, uh, the haem, the ha
Kimberly (17:18):
That's right.
Eric (17:18):
Yeah. So there was a
Kimberly (17:19):
Couple of years I never went,
Eric (17:20):
I that's,
Kimberly (17:21):
No, I did one year. I did one year.
Eric (17:23):
That's what I was invited to when I was here for a demo.
Kimberly (17:25):
Yeah.
Eric (17:26):
Um, but I, I didn't, we didn't go. 'cause obviously we were, we were just here for two to two and a half days, something like that.
Kimberly (17:33):
Right. But that's where it started. That's
Eric (17:34):
Where it started. And that was a little bit tough. Not too many people went. And then we developed-
Kimberly (17:39):
It's a lot further.
Eric (17:40):
It was a lot further. Absolutely. We developed a relationship with an owner of a private airstrip up the gorge, just basically across from Cascade Locks, which if well like the best spot in the whole freaking gorge.
Kimberly (17:54):
It's like 45 minutes from here, I think.
Eric (17:56):
Oh, tops.
Kimberly (17:57):
It's pretty close.
Eric (17:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
Kimberly (17:58):
Maybe less.
Eric (17:58):
And I think it's a 15 minute helicopter ride.
Kimberly (18:02):
Yeah.
Eric (18:02):
Yeah. It's pretty quick. So we developed a relationship with, with the individual that owned it. And basically, um, you know, he built this strip and he built a bunch of, uh, like buildings on the strip and it's basically all geared towards like fly-ins. So fly in park camp, you know,
Kimberly (18:24):
It's got a fire pit.
Eric (18:25):
Barbecue, all that kind of stuff. Yeah. He actually built in the last, uh, in the last year, year and a half ago, he actually built a heli pad for us.
Kimberly (18:33):
Right.
New Speaker (18:34):
Yeah. 'cause it was, this is our fourth year.
Kimberly (18:35):
Literally for us.
Eric (18:37):
For us. Built a heli pad. He had a, a wood burning hot tub now. Yeah. And like a picnic table and an overlook, which the views from right there looking down at the go are amazing.
Kimberly (18:47):
Beautiful.
Eric (18:48):
But what we do every year is, is we will, we'll, we'll bust a bunch of people. People will load up cars, you know, camping gear, all that kinda stuff. Um, we'll do kinda like a potluck. We'll, we'll grill a bunch, but we do like a potluck. Yeah. It's, which is
Kimberly (19:02):
Really fun. It's so fun because I love the students bring their dishes and so you get a little bit of taste from all around the world. I
Eric (19:09):
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. You know, um, some
Kimberly (19:11):
Of 'em are really good cooks.
Eric (19:12):
Yeah. Yeah. Very, very good.
Kimberly (19:14):
Good cooks.
Eric (19:14):
Very, very good. Every year I'm like, whew, I, I need to check my weight and balance before we go on this next flight. Um, but no. So what we do is, is, you know, if if you're not flying up there, you're, you're jumping in a vehicle with somebody bringing a bunch of camping gear. Uh, and then we go up there and we, we, we camp, um, have, you know, they got a big, big fire pit. We all sit out and stay up late and, you know, have fun.
Kimberly (19:39):
And they've got that big open grass area where we, I mean, people are playing games, throwing balls, you know.
Eric (19:43):
Oh, yeah.
Kimberly (19:44):
Absolutely. Doing what you do when the sun's up.
Eric (19:46):
And then, and then we've, we've shuttled a little bit. We've, uh, we've had helicopters going back, you know, all day long. I'm pretty sure we had almost every helicopter out there last year, which was really, really fun. Yeah. Uh, you know, we get the 40 fours going back and forth for people and it's, it's, it's special. We, we have actually, uh, business partners that, different companies that we, we partner with, uh, for our students actually have scheduled their trips to come visit us. Right. For the barbecues because it's such a unique experience. Yeah. You know, we, we have some of our local, uh, fixed wing friends, uh, fly in. Uh, I know the, uh, Hillsboro and Redmond were, were talking about wanting to come do that. Um, you know, we've had, uh, some alumni that work for some other helicopter schools. Right. Actually make the long trip out here to join us because it's such a memorable thing for them. Um, and, and it is just, it, it's amazing. It, it, it's, it's something you'll remember for, for the rest of, of, of your life. Being a part of it. And, uh, it just gets better every year.
Kimberly (20:54):
You know, it's where one of my nicknames came from.
Eric (20:56):
Which one?
Kimberly (20:57):
Campus Mom.
Eric (20:58):
Campus mom?
Kimberly (20:59):
Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, two years ago I was gonna be in Romania and I wasn't gonna be in back in time to go heli camping. So I was super bummed. And Andi, uh, who, uh, is our, uh, EASA program manager, he goes, what? You're not gonna be there? And I said, no, I'm gonna be in Romania. And he goes, you're gonna leave your 100 half children camping by themselves. <laugh>. And so that was kind of where the, the campus mom got started. Yeah. But anyway. It is, it's so much fun. Um, we, I remember the first year my husband came with me. We went and we went, I think we went a little late in the season and everybody froze. It was so cold that night. We go earlier now.
Eric (21:37):
We do.
Kimberly (21:37):
Yeah. We, we go in August. Uh, it's a really good time.
Kimberly (21:40):
It's still really beautiful, but it's, it's a little bit warmer. Um, people bring their dogs. A lot of students bring You bring your dog. I brought my dog.
Eric (21:47):
Oh yeah.
Kimberly (21:49):
Yeah. Um, we eat food together. And then one of my favorite things is the next morning, the guy that owns Key Way, they make us this huge pancake and bacon breakfast and everybody sits around and eats breakfast together. This is so fun.
Eric (22:03):
That's great.
Kimberly (22:04):
You know, it's just, it's just something that's just different and I love it. Uh, and, uh, the year my husband came, he got to fly home in a helicopter. Oh. So that was pretty cool because he had never been in one before.
Eric (22:14):
That's special.
Kimberly (22:14):
Flew with Lucian.
Eric (22:16):
There you go.
Kimberly (22:16):
Yeah.
Eric (22:16):
There you go. That's amazing. That's amazing.
Kimberly (22:20):
But I think that's, uh, kind of the highlight of our, our year. We all look forward to that. I mean, there's a lot of highlights, but that one's pretty good.
Eric (22:26):
We do, we do a lot of fun things. But that's, that's definitely up there. That's definitely up there.
Kimberly (22:32):
So what else? You got? Any ideas? What else can we do?
Eric (22:38):
I got, I got a ton of ideas.
Kimberly (22:39):
I wanna do-
Eric (22:40):
Got too many ideas.
Kimberly (22:41):
I wanna do hiking days.
Eric (22:42):
Oh yeah.
Kimberly (22:43):
You know, like people sign up and like, eight of us go hike together or something. 'cause I love hiking and it's just fun. There's so many spots around here. And yeah, it would just be fun. I used to do that with, uh, with our china program when the they were here. We, my husband and I would take a group and go hiking. So I think that's something else we could start.
Eric (22:59):
We could do so many things.
Kimberly (23:00):
There's so many things. There's still so much to do.
Eric (23:03):
I mean, there, there's constantly coming up with new things that they want to go do. The, the students that is, and, you know,
Kimberly (23:09):
Well, and that's one of the things that's great is that it, it's not like, like yeah, we have the flow and we have the camping. We have these things that we do, but we're always open to like other ideas as well. And Oh yeah. Okay. Maybe that's our new tradition. It's just kind of fun. Oh, you were there when they did that kind of thing.
Eric (23:24):
We started this whole process of working on our, on our culture at this campus. I think it's safe to say that, uh, nowadays, uh, it, we're not driving this boat anymore. It, it, it is. We, we, we put the boat together and, and we got everybody.
Kimberly (23:44):
Right. Put it on the water
Eric (23:45):
And uh, and it took off. Yeah. And, uh, and that's, that's what I love about our student body is, is they're gonna take every opportunity that they can to, to make this time special and to be with each other. And, and you know what, uh, as, you know, an instructor and, and the chief instructor that's looking at it, I, I think it's one of the big reasons why we're putting out such good students. I, I mean, I really do. Um, being a part of, of a group and, and kind being with like-minded people. Yeah. Being with people that are always trying to be better and, and learn more. Um, you know, I think the, the fun stuff is awesome. But I think the real prize is, is the fact that you're doing life with people that are encouraging you in, in your growth and in, in your experience and journey. And I really think it puts people at, at higher levels. And so when you leave here, it'll be a bummer. Uh, but you'll be better for it. Right. And that's special.
Kimberly (24:49):
Yeah. Awesome. Love it.
Eric (24:52):
Well, we got plenty more ideas and I'm sure this time next year there'll be five other things that we're,
Kimberly (24:58):
Holding podcast.
Eric (24:59):
We're having fun doing. And, and that's great. But, uh, I, I love talking, talking about this topic. It's, it's, it's, it's why I'm here.
Kimberly (25:07):
Yeah. It's definitely, I mean, people ask, what do you love about your job? The people? Yep. My coworkers and the students. Like, they're the ones that keep me. I mean, I'm not, I'm not in aviation. I'm here because of the people. Yeah. Um, you're here for aviation.
Eric (25:20):
I'm here, I'm here for aviation.
Kimberly (25:21):
It's awesome. But, but I think that there definitely is a culture here that yeah, I wanna be here.
Eric (25:28):
I'm kept here by the people.
Kimberly (25:29):
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah.
Eric (25:30):
I came here for the helicopters. I stayed.
Kimberly (25:32):
And you stayed for the people. I stayed for the people. I love it. I love it. That should be your tagline. You put that on your office door, keep the helicopter stayed for the people.