30-year-old Shaesta Waiz is the youngest women to fly solo around the world in a single-engine plane. She says, “I never thought that a refugee from Afghanistan who was very shy and afraid, thinking that the only thing the world had to offer her was that she was going to get married and have a family. That the eighth woman to [fly the globe] would be this girl.”
Waiz lived in a refugee camp in Afghanistan and eventually escaped the Afghan-Soviet War. When she moved to California as a child, Waiz fell in love with aviation at age 17 and relied on scholarships to pay for flight school. Now, she’s made history flying around the globe in 145 days, visiting five continents, 22 countries and 3000 kids.
She says, “Some of these kids- it was the first time they had ever met a female pilot. It was the first they ever gone to the airport. And for some of these kids, it was the first time they had ever seen an airplane face-to-face. So being a part of that experience for them was really special.’
Women make up only 6% of pilots.
During her pit stops, Waiz encouraged girls to pursue STEM. She says, “Spending that time with those girls, looking them into their eyes and saying that they matter, and their dreams are important, I could tell leaving those young girls were looking at the sky to find an airplane and they had a different sense about their dreams and their future.’
Waiz started Non-Profit Dreams Soar to share their passion for STEM and aviation and help girls make their mark in the STEM.
She says, “the aircraft will always accept me for who I am and propel me forward. All of a sudden, I’m not a refugee from Afghanistan who had humble beginning that came from really nothing. I am a pilot in command. I am a woman who is knowledgeable, and empowered, and flying.”
Dreams Soar offers scholarships for aspiring pilots, no matter where they come from. She says, “Don’t let anything stop you and dream big. Don’t give up whatever your dream are. Keep flying towards them, and your dreams will soar.”
