Who knows what the path of life will hold for us? Not even a crystal ball or fortuneteller can answer. To get through this sometimes rough road called “life,” I have personally found that you must have faith in your own personal strength, pursue your dreams hoping they will become your reality, and never give up. Dreams are what reality is made of.
At the age of 17, like many young women, I had been mesmerized[施催眠术] on a flight to Europe by a stewardess. She looked like a goddess to me. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she walked through the cabin performing her duties, impeccably[无瑕疵地] dressed, coiffed[戴紧帽], and manicured[修指甲]. My stay in Europe was for three weeks and all I could think about was the flight home watching another stewardess in action.
At the age of 19 I was in my second year of college and not sure what my major should really be. All along I had in the back of my mind the desire to be just like the stewardess I had observed two years prior.
I decided to embark on[着手] the application process to the airlines. I pursued this painstaking process for three years, and back then there were no computers, no email, and all forms were obtained by hand-typed letters and the snail mail注 service.
To my surprise I received five requests to be interviewed.
I was well versed in[精通于] every airline I undertook, their stewardess colors, their routes, etc. I made sure, when presenting myself at an interview, I was dressed in their colors to look as close to being one of their own.
Letter after letter of rejections came to my mailbox. Year after year I continued my pursuit until I finally realized I must lack something that prevented my acceptance.
This was a devastating[毁灭性的] reality. I stopped sending out applications and pushed my deepest desire, my passion, deep down inside me and went on with what life was to bring to me without the airlines.
My future careers, from the age of 21 through 50, all related to customer service. Whether I was a receptionist or in management, I always dealt with the public. During this time period, I got my three boys and later divorced.
Life was hard – I was financially devastated, overwhelmed with massive responsibilities. I reminded myself every morning to keep my faith in myself – that I could be successful in anything I pursued – but the reality of my suppressed[镇压] desire to fly was still ever present. 
Unfortunately my responsibilities as a mother came first, not what I personally wanted to fulfill for myself. My three sons WERE my life, and so it went on.
Eventually, my first two sons had left for college. When my third son was approaching high school graduation, in the spring of 2005, I had just left a company that did not understand compassion for their customers.
In January 2005, I watched a TV program called Airline that depicted[描述] the everyday happenings of Southwest Airline’s travelers. They profiled a flight attendant (not “stewardess” anymore), a 50-year-old widow living alone as all her children were grown and had left home. She said she loved working with people and needed to get out of the house.
She said she had seen an advertisement for a Southwest Airline open house[开放参观日] for flight attendants. She decided to attend and see what the position entailed[需要]. After going through the extensive application process, to her surprise, she was hired and sent to training. Because of her exuberance[生气勃勃] and excitement for the job, I realized that she was the same age as I was and if she could get in, so could I! And so it began again.
It took three months for the locally based airline to have an open house in my area but I was ready to go. This open house took two hours, and no matter what they said about any of the “torture” I would experience performing this job, I didn’t care. I knew from the time I decided to go to the open house that I was going to be a flight attendant. I knew I wouldn’t fail and this was it.
Two days later, I received a call for a second interview.
One week later, I was back doing the infamous[声名狼藉的] “airline interview,” but I wasn’t nervous this time. I knew the path I had traveled through life had prepared me for this endeavor[努力].
My final phone call came the next morning at 9 a.m. This was the end of March 2005, and I was in training in Memphis, Tennessee, the next week.
Enduring a three week training program, which included a massive amount of studying, evacuations[疏散], testing, and watching fellow classmates being sent home one by one, kept my emotions strung out[使拉长距离] so tight I felt like a rubber band[橡皮圈] ready to snap. But despite all of this, a special bond was created between those who survived that torture.
While in training, on April 26th, I turned 51 and on April 27th, I took my final exam – in uniform – and passed.
Graduation was a very special event. The moment my flight wings[飞行章] were presented to me, all I could think about was how hard I’d worked for 30 years to be able to have these wings. I realized that the mottos I had lived by my entire life had served me well.
I am still a flight attendant today and have been enjoying every minute for the past 5 years. I realize that I made the right choice by leaving a job I hated with a passion to pursue a “last” career that would fulfill me, and I could say I truly loved – besides, I won the uniform I had been waiting a lifetime to wear.
谁能预知生命会为我们铺就怎样的道路呢?没有一个水晶球或算命师可以解答这个问题。走过这一段时有起伏的生命之路,我的亲身体会是——你必须相信自己的优势,追求梦想使之成真,永不放弃。现实其实就是由梦想构成的。
17岁那年,跟其他年轻女孩一样,我在一趟去欧洲的航班上被一名空姐深深迷住了。她在我眼中就像一位女神。我无法转移视线地看着她在机舱里履行职责,穿着剪裁完美的衣服,戴着紧贴的帽子,指甲修剪整齐。当时我在欧洲呆了三个星期,脑子里只想着回程的飞机,希望再次欣赏另一位空姐工作。
到了19岁,我读大二,还不太确定自己应该攻读哪个专业。我的脑海深处一直有这么一个渴望——成为一名空姐,就像两年前所看到的那位一样。
我决定着手向航空公司提交职位申请。我在这一艰苦历程中奋斗了三年;当时我还没有电脑或电子邮箱,所有的申请表格都是打字机打出来的信件,通过邮政系统才能收到。
出乎意料的是,我收到了五份面试邀请。
我对每一家要参加面试的航空公司都了如指掌,包括他们空姐服装的颜色和航线等等。每次在面试中展现自己时,我确保自己穿上该公司的代表颜色,尽量让自己看起来像是他们的一员。
然而拒绝信一封接一封地出现在我的信箱里。年复一年,我继续追求,直到最后终于意识到自己肯定是缺少了某种东西以致未被认可。
这真是一个毁灭性的现实。我不再寄出求职申请,将自己最深沉的渴望和热情挤进心底最深处,过着没有航空公司的生活。
我后来的职业——从21岁到50岁——全都是客户服务领域的。无论是当一名招待员还是管理者,我都在和人们打交道。在这段年月里,我生了三个儿子,后来离了婚。
生活很艰苦,我的经济状况非常糟糕,被巨大的责任压得喘不过气来。每天早晨,我都提醒自己要有信心——我能在自己追求的领域获得成功——然而我那被压抑着的飞行渴望一直没能实现。
很遗憾,摆在首位的是作为母亲的责任,而非实现个人愿望。我的三个儿子就是我的生命,因此生活也就这样继续下去。
最后,年长的两个儿子去读大学了。2005年春天,小儿子也快高中毕业。当时我刚辞职,离开一家对客户毫无同情心的公司。
2005年1月,我看到一个叫《航空在线》的电视节目,主要讲述西南航空公司乘客的日常故事。他们介绍了一位乘务员(不再称为“空姐”了),她是一位年届五十的寡妇,自从孩子长大离家后就独自生活。她说自己喜欢和人们打交道,想走出家门。
她看到西南航空乘务员开放日的广告,决定去一探究竟,看看当一名乘务员需要哪些条件。经过全方位应聘程序,她出乎意料地被录取并送往培训。看到她精力充沛、兴奋不已地接受新工作,我意识到她其实与我同龄,如果她能做到,我一定也可以!于是我再次整装待发。
足足等了三个月,我所住地区的当地航空公司才举行开放日,不过我已经准备好了。这次开放日持续两小时,无论他们怎么强调踏上岗位将会面对的各种“折磨”,我一点都不在乎。我知道,在决定来参加开放日的那一刻起,我就一定会当上乘务员。我知道自己不会失败,也只会出现这个结果。
两天后,我接到了第二次面试的电话通知。
一周后,我再次参加过去总是铩羽而归的“航空公司面试”,但是这次我并不紧张。我知道一路走来,生活已经为我的这次尝试做好了充分准备。
第二天早上9点,我接到了最后一通电话。那是2005年三月底,接下来的那个星期,我要在(美国)田纳西州孟菲斯市接受培训。
培训计划历时三周,包括大量的学习、疏散演习和测验。看着同学们一个接一个地被遣送回家,我整个人的情绪就像被拉长的橡皮圈似的,随时都可能断掉。尽管如此,我们这些熬过折磨的人之间产生了一种特别的默契。
培训期间,4月26日,我迎来了自己的51岁生日;4月27日,我穿上了制服参加最后的考试——并顺利通过。
毕业典礼是一场特别的盛会。被授予飞行章的那一刻,我的脑子里能想到的就是——30年来,为了获得这枚飞行章,我付出了多大的努力。我发现,自己坚信了一辈子的座右铭是确实可信的。
我至今仍是一名乘务员,享受着五年来的每一分钟。我知道自己做出了正确的决定——离开讨厌的工作,带着激情去追逐 “上一份”职业,一份能实现自我、让我发自内心热爱它的职业——另外,我还赢得了一辈子梦寐以求的制服。
注:snail mail 指通过邮局寄发的信件。