Christian Cunningham, a senior aeronautical studies major at Kent State University, has been doubted. Some said he would never become a pilot. But Cunningham is already proving them wrong. Graduation is on the horizon, and he and his internship were recently featured on CNN. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople would always say I couldn\u2019t do it because I had glasses, or there\u2019s \u2018not a lot of black pilots,\u2019\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cunningham, expected to graduate in December, is currently interning at Fly For The Culture, an organization that promotes diversity and inclusion in aviation. Both Cunningham and the organization were featured in a CNN<\/a> article this fall titled \u201cThe pilots changing the face of aviation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an intern at Fly For The Culture, Cunningham runs the organization\u2019s social media, as well as interviews and showcases diverse pioneers in aviation. He found out about the organization his freshman year when his father sent him a link to its Facebook page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI followed them for about a year and reached out to Courtland, the founder,\u201d Cunningham said, \u201cI wanted to start a chapter here at Kent State or anything to get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time, Fly For The Culture was not looking to expand nationally, but Courtland Savage, founder and president of Fly For The Culture offered Cunningham an internship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cChristian brought great ideas to our social media like \u2018Aviator of the Week,\u2019\u201d Savage said. \u201cI was really proud that for Black History Month he would post black aviation history facts every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cunningham described his experience with Fly For The Culture as \u201cone-of-a-kind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cChristian really impressed me with the level of positivity he brought to his internship position,\u201d Maureen McFarland, Ph.D., associate dean of Academic Affairs and College of Aeronautics and Engineering said. \u201cThrough reading his bi-weekly reflection journals, it became obvious he used every possible opportunity to grow and learn about diversity and inclusion in the aviation industry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cunningham said he chose to attend Kent State because of the aeronautics program and scholarship opportunities the university offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe flight instructors really know what they are talking about,\u201d Cunningham said. \u201cAt the end of the day, they\u2019re going to make sure you are ready for where you want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n