Let your dreams take flight, pilot urges youth

As Ken Morrison celebrates 20 years of being a pilot, he cannot help but remember his persistence and the sacrifices he made for his boyhood dream to take flight.

Like many young boys, he was fascinated by planes, and that interest followed him right through to adulthood.

It's that journey to fulfilment that impels him to encourage young Jamaicans to take advantage of educational opportunities and to fight for their dreams, even in the face of challenges.

The 52-year-old told The Gleaner that he spent the greater part of his childhood in Portmore, St Catherine, where he attended Waterford Secondary School.

“As a family, we were just happy. I didn't realise how poor we were until later in life. As a child, once I had a roof over my head and something to eat, I was fine,” he recalled.

Morrison said that his parents were busy trying to put food on the table, and before he got to secondary school, his father was no longer around.

“I was just going to school because they sent me. I really didn't understand the importance of school until I left,” he said.

“I had no CXCs, and as a matter of fact, I didn't learn to read functionally until after I left secondary school.”

CXC is the Caribbean Examinations Council.

Morrison bought reading books as he sought to improve his literacy and did odd jobs in 1986 and onwards.

He later enrolled in Stony Hill HEART Academy and later got a job as a merchandiser with a bakery.

Morrison then migrated to the United States, where he sat General Educational Development (GED) exams to get accepted into college.

“I started college, but I didn't do well on the entrance exam because I was out of school for so long, so they put me in the remedial classes for one semester. I did the exam again, did well, and then started regular college classes,” he recounted, adding that his studies were funded through student loans.

RENEWED DREAM

Morrison recalled listening to a recording from motivational speaker Anthony Robbins in his first year of college as a sports medicine student, which placed him back on the path to achieving his boyhood dream.

“Think about when you were younger and you were choosing your career path. What was it that you absolutely wanted to do, not what you're settling for?” Morrison recalled Robbins as saying, convincing him to pursue his passion for planes.

Morrison showed up at the dean's office almost every day for four months, inquiring about an aviation scholarship.

He was awarded a full scholarship and enrolled at Pelican Flight Training Center on a part-time basis, while he completed his degree in sports medicine, knowing fully well that he was not going to work in the field.

“It was rough in the beginning, just to learn the language of aviation, and at times it looked impossible, but my passion kept me going,” he said.

Morrison holds a bachelor's degree in sports medicine from Florida International University and a bachelor's degree in aeronautical science from Florida Memorial University.

He remembers his first flight, a day before 9/11, as surreal.

“I just remember thinking to myself, 'Oh, my God! I'm flying!' The instructor was speaking, but I have no idea what he said,” Morrison said with a chuckle.

Morrison has been a certified flight instructor since 2005 and has earned an MBA from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University with a 4.0 GPA.

He has racked up approximately 9,000 flight hours, averaging 450 hours per year.

“I do long-haul flying now, so most of my flights are in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East,” the Western Global Airlines first officer pilot said, adding that Australia, Greece, and New Zealand are among the few countries to which he has not flown.

Fascinated by Greek history, Morrison hopes to fly there very soon.

judana.murphy@gleanerjm.com