My College Experiences as
My name is Dylan Mardoian and I am a sophomore at Western Michigan University and working on my Instrument rating and also actively participating in the band program at WMU. Throughout my high school and college career, flying and music have always been my top two activities. During my high school years, I’ve actively participated in any band possible. Concert bands, jazz bands, marching bands, pep bands, you name it, I probably participated in it one way or another. For aviation, I was consistently looking at aviation programs around the country that interested me. I had my eyes glued to the music stand and to the sky. Towards the end of my senior year, I decided to go to Western Michigan University. I couldn’t wait to participate in the Bronco Marching Band and fly
the Cirrus SR20! A couple weeks before classes started, band camp started. Being a very extroverted individual, I couldn’t wait to meet others who had the same passion as I did. While meeting people, I met Nathan Nothelle, an FMA ambassador. I was aware of the Flying Musicians Association, but I did not know how to join. Nathan helped me through that process and I was able to gain a good amount of knowledge since joining. I’ve never experienced a college football game before coming to WMU. The first football game was exhilarating! Experiencing football games from the point of the band is always something I will always prefer to do. After the marching season was over, basketball band had begun. College basketball is high paced, and you must have a pep band that is very enthusiastic for the team. WMU’s pep band is no exception! With rowdy cheers to get the team going and cheers to discourage the opposing team, you can’t go wrong with joining that band. In January of 2019, I decided to earn my Private Pilot License outside of WMU’s program at a local Part 61 school, Kal-Aero Flight Instruction based in KAZO. Flying mid-sixties Cessna 172’s is an experience like no other. Learning on a six-pack, Garmin 430 system is something I’m glad to experience. Michigan weather unfortunately prevented me from gaining hours in the winter months. By the time the summer rolled around, I was flying through my lessons. I soloed on
