Me nervously taking my first picture as I head to training! I remember feeling nervous, and had a small panic attack looking at the wing, wondering if the turbulence could make the wing snap clean off... Obviously it didn't, but it was a nerve racking experience.
For a while, I even wondered if I was cut out for the job. How can a flight attendant be afraid of the skies? Thankfully that was the only time I felt that sense of panic in my career. Flights became, dare I say it, boring.
This was the first time really meeting everyone and getting to know their names. I was nervous but tried not to show it. There weren't that many guys there, but I've always felt more comfortable around women anyway.
The first day of training we explore the CR Smith museum and took in the wonder of flight.
Not long after getting to know each other, we decided to go out clubbing as a group, and we had a blast. Here are all the women in my class, slaying as always.
And here are all the men, looking fly!
One of the cool things about training was going on training flights with my classmates.
We also spent a lot of time in the simulator.
When we weren't training, we had fun playing vollyball at the training center. We actually stayed at a hotel so we didn't have as much access to the training facilities.
It was still a lot of fun!
One of the highlights of training was visiting the enormous plan hangar to check the the new 777-max.
Because I couldn't stand to not doing something on the weekends, I would rent a car and take the other FAs out dancing.
Part of my exploration of Dallas when I had the rental was finding a Puerto Rican restaurant called Adobo that was amazing. I took some of my friends there to enjoy the vibe and give them a taste of Puerto Rico.
About halfway through training were were fitted for our uniforms and got a chance to try them on, it was a lot of fun!
Because training fell on my birthday, the class celebrated with me! That same day I met a flight attendant that would change my life for the better.
That flight attendants name was Tara. I didn't know it at the time, but she would be a big part of my life only a month after training was finished.
Because we spent so much time studying, actually going on a flight was one of the most exiting things we could do. The flights were turns, a flight there and then fly back.
These FA's were some of the kindest I've met, and were happy to show us newbies the ropes.
Because you never know what will happen, we all simulated putting out a fire! It was an amazing experience!
Part of the training is making sure you know how to swim! We also simulated different situations and had processes to follow to complete an objective.
Since we were class 13-28, we arranged ourselves into the number after training for the photo.
One of the most entertaining and educational classes was the wine tasting / sommelier training. Genea and I ensured there was no port left to drink at the end!
Near the end of training, we needed to rank the bases in order of preference. My top two choices were DFW and MIA, in that order, but I always wondered what would have happened if I had put MIA first. I don't doubt I would still be there partying it up 😂.
Here are some photos of some of the friends I made in training. Martin was a good friend and even better poker player! Julian was my roommate.
Under a 777 engine!
It’s not all fun and games! Sometimes you have to serve drinks too! This photo was taken during my teaching flight!
Honestly, I grew so much as a person during training. It was tough, some even called it Barbie Boot Camp! But it taught me so much about about customer service that I still use to this day.