DOZ Leadership Lessons
AMELIA
EARHART
Eturuvie Erebor
A
melia Earhart was without any doubt a very
bold and courageous woman. She was the
first woman to make a first solo flight across
the Atlantic Ocean. Her journey to becoming a
pilot began as a child. She was fascinated by planes
and loved airshows. Once, she visited an airshow
with her family, and her father paid a pilot $10 to
take her on a flight. As soon as the plane left the
ground, Amelia knew without any doubt what her
life purpose was. She wanted to fly airplanes. This
was not a profession that readily welcomed women
at the time, but that did not deter her, and neither
did her family’s inability to afford the flying fees.
She decided she would work to pay for her flying
lessons. And that was what she did. Then she was
chosen to be part of the Friendship Crew which
made her the first woman to fly across the Atlantic
Ocean. Everyone was impressed and praised her for
this feat, but Amelia let them know that she couldn’t
take any credit for it as she hadn’t done any flying
albeit she was already an accomplished pilot. The
reason being she was not trained in instrument
navigation. But as she had begun to take an interest
in women’s issues and desired not only to be a voice
for women but inspire women and girls by the feats
she accomplished, she set for herself an ambitious
DOZ Magazine | February 2019
goal to become the first woman to fly solo across the
Atlantic Ocean. She achieved this successfully but
not without many troubles on the way all of which
she was equipped for having prepared five years for
the flight. This feat brought her greater recognition
and indeed made her a voice for women. But then
she was restless and soon set for herself a new
challenge. This time it was a solo flight from Hawaii
to California. Another pilot who had attempted
it had been killed, but she went anyway having
evaluated her chances of success to be fifty-fifty.
It was a successful flight which brought her more
recognition. She rechallenged herself, and this time
it was from Los Angeles to Mexico and Newark.
She made the trip successfully and once more her
recognition grew as did her fans who were now in
the habit of overcrowding her plane wherever she
landed. Then she attempted a trip around the world.
On this trip, she would fly to South America, Senegal,
Calcutta, Asia and Australia, New Guinea, Howland
Island, Hawaii and finally California. She never made
it back home. Her plane went down, and she was
never found. But she died doing what she loved. And
lived as an inspiration to many women and remains
an inspiration decades after her demise.
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