The Soultown! Volume III: Issue 10 OCTOBER 2019 | Page 9
FEATURE
Courtesy Photos
Gabrielle takes a practice jump off the plane in case of
an emergency evacuation.
can miss one on the written test and one on the oral
test.”
The rules were clear. There were a certain amount
of points received that could result in termination,
and if we were out of compliance, we would be sent
home immediately. I felt like I was in the military.
The written test was given in one room and the oral
in the other. I wasted no time filling in the answers. I
knew this stuff like the back of my hand. I gathered
all my belongings and headed to the next exam.
One instructor sat in front of me waiting to hear the
safety passage. I got through the 3rd paragraph and
froze. I did not know the rest. I just kept it real with
her and told her I dropped the ball. She assured me
that I would have another chance to redeem myself
tomorrow morning. As I went back into the first exam
room, I noticed 3 people were gone. We were now a
class of 12, and this was not a joke.
Immediately, I went back to the hotel at the end of
the day, shut off my phone and studied that safety
passage until my eyes burned. I had one more time
to mess up on a verbal. I had to understand it and
recite it verbatim, otherwise, I would have failed.
The next morning an Uber was called to pick me up
without the rest of the group. I prayed and began my
speech as soon as I got to the training room. I passed
with flying colors, but ... I only had one lifeline left.
We were given a list of five bases/ hubs to choose
from. Keeping in mind that we may not get our
preferred city. I picked Las Vegas. I was close to my
mother who resides in California, and it was the least
expensive and more exciting than the other 5 cities.
It was also the most junior base for my airline, so I
knew that my seniority would come up quickly and
I wouldn’t be on reserve forever. Everyone in my
class got their first pick. We were excited, but I was
confused at how and why I was moving across the
country again!
I bonded with a woman who was previously a
flight attendant for another airline. I felt like she knew
everything, and she and I became study partners.
Each day we sat in a classroom for 9 hours being
flooded with unfamiliar information. After class, we
would go back to the hotel, study more, and get a
couple of hours of sleep before the next exam. I
called home every day. I needed encouragement
because it had been a while since I’ve had to study
anything. I knew that I only had one written test I
could fail, and I was just hoping that everything else
came naturally to me.
Week one down and another was sent home.
Lucky number 11! Week two got tougher and my
Oct. 2019 • The Soultown International Magazine • Celebrating 2 years • Connecting Our Cultures to Our Cyber & Conscious Communities • thesoultown.com
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