, August 20, 2008

Peter’s been at college for a long time—since birth, in fact. His parents teach at the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, in Kenya, where his mother is a professor of English and his father is a professor of industrial engineering. But their positions aren’t exactly lucrative; “I don’t think my father has received a salary check since I was in fifth grade,” says Peter.

So Peter’s own bid for a college education has included plenty of hard work. But between classes and working 20 hours per week at the airport and plant services, this Nigerian-born business and aviation major still keeps up with his other passion—world affairs—by voracious reading made affordable by the Internet. It’s a bond he and his father share, with the BBC news site key to keeping up with the African political scene.

Now, with his twin brothers, Tade and Wade, at PUC and a fourth brother in college elsewhere in the US, financing his dream of ultimately becoming a mission pilot has become a particular challenge for Peter. The $30,000-40,000 needed beyond general tuition for flight training doesn’t just fall from the sky. Fortunately, Peter has found financial help in the form of such scholarships as the PUC opportunity grant. Without these scholarships, he says, “aviation would certainly have been ruled out.”

But it’s the aviation program itself that makes Peter’s eyes shine. “The discipline in PUC’s aviation program is higher here than at other colleges,” says Peter.

It’s a long road after licensing to becoming a bush pilot—the most difficult flying in the world—but Peter has charted his future, confident in his skills and the scholarship support that keeps him on course.