MEDIA, Pa. —Cecilia "Ceci" Ballas, who attended Garnet Valley High School, is the third member of her immediate family to attend Penn State Brandywine. Both her father and brother attended the campus for part of their college careers. She is majoring in cybersecurity analytics and operations after developing an interest in the subject from relatives who are in the field, she said.

But her goals, said Ballas, also include someday becoming a corporate or airline pilot — or perhaps do aerobatic flying. Ballas recently achieved her dream since childhood of getting a pilot's license, while keeping up with her first-year studies at Penn State Brandywine.

As an eight-year-old on an airplane for the first time as she and her family traveled to Florida for vacation, Ballas developed an immediate love of flying — “It was better than the entire vacation,” she said. Fast forward to spring of 2023 during her senior year of high school and Ballas had a “discovery flight” with an instructor pilot that just confirmed her earlier interest.

“I came home and my cheeks hurt because I was smiling so much,” said Ballas, now finishing her first year at Penn State Brandywine. “I was like, ‘This is a dream come true and there’s nothing else I want to do besides go back up again.”

Ballas started lessons right after the discovery flight, flying twice a week while finishing high school and then four times a week during the summer after graduation. When she started at Brandywine last August, she was back to two lessons per week to balance with her schoolwork. During the fall semester, she earned her private pilot’s license. After a lot of studying, ground school and building hours, the final test — also known as a check-ride — included a two-hour oral exam and a 1.5-hour flight with a designated pilot examiner (who also attended Penn State).

In addition to her own love of flying, Ballas said, she was inspired by flights her mother would go on with a friend who is a pilot, as well as a friend’s father who is a corporate pilot and helped her pursue flight lessons. He also spoke with her about the pros and cons of being a pilot and gave her a tour of his hangar at the Philadelphia International Airport.

“I was really having a hard time in high school choosing or deciding what to do afterwards,” she said. “I thought flying would be so fun, but not something I could actually do or have the money for.”

Now, she said, her parents are very supportive and are looking forward to flying with her. So far, she’s taken her brother on a flight for his birthday.

Ballas currently flies from Brandywine Aviation & Maintenance in West Chester, where she also works part time. Her job responsibilities include marketing and social media to promote the business and attract new students, as well as working the front desk, managing students’ check-rides and cleaning and fueling planes. Her position allows her to fully pay for all flight lessons herself.

She said one challenge of transitioning from high school to college was the course schedule and how classes are spread apart, so managing her time was one focus on Ballas’ first year at Brandywine.

“I'd say I was surprised at how it can be similar to high school and I was surprised that I liked all my professors and they were all nice,” Ballas said.