On a recent Sunday afternoon, this writer caught up with a successful woman business owner, whose flight instruction and general aviation business is physically located at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California. But, how did Evelyn A. Carlson, a Nursing Instructor at St. John College in Cleveland, Ohio ultimately emerge as a partner in a Learn to Fly business on the West Coast and become a pilot extraordinaire. Here's the story.

As an intermediate step, Carlson began to teach both Nursing and Flight Instruction as an Assistant Professor in two different departments at Kent State University, one of which was Technology (think Flying). Lyn commented that both of these teaching endeavors were not so dissimilar as they might seem at first glance. Sure, the data itself was different, but not the process. Both had scientific and technical aspects; each involved manipulating equipment; and both at times required instantaneous decisions.

Of course, as we age and experience a wide range of different life circumstances, a number of unexpected choices emerge. Just ask Lyn Carlson if that didn't happen to her. Further, some of the chapters in our lives take place before age 50, while other parts of our life evolve later.

Along the way, Lyn served in the Peace Corps in Nyeri, Kenya, where she taught nursing. Further, during graduate school, Carlson received a National Institute of Health full scholarship and living expenses stipend. In 1974, Lyn completed her MSN from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. After completion of her Master's degree, she initially began teaching nursing at the baccalaureate level. But, then, her love for flying plus her advanced degree combined to also allow her to teach flying in Kent, Ohio, too. At the time, Lyn was 35 years old.

For the next four years, Lyn arrived at the airport early in the morning, where she served as the flying instructor from 7 AM until Noon. Then, she would teach nursing in the afternoon. Finally, she would drive back to the School of Technology building on campus at the end of the day to serve as an assistant professor in Technology, where she taught the evening ground schools until 9 or 10 PM. What a schedule this dedicated teacher and flight instructor kept in those days.

As a pilot, she joined the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) in 1979 as member # 006905147. During 1981, Lyn won the Amelia Earhart Medal by finishing 1st place in one of the events at the National Intercollegiate Flying Association meet, which was held at the University of North Dakota. By 1982, Carlson was already listed in Who's Who of American Women.

In her case, the circumstance, which led Lyn to move back to California "right back where she started from" went like this. Due to the declining health of her grandparents, who held a special place in Lyn's heart, she returned to the Golden State to spend time with them and help care for them. Back in California, Carlson also began to hand out resumes and, ultimately, wound up as Chief Flight Instructor at Sunrise Aviation in Santa Ana, California. So, she stayed in Southern California, where her family had long established ties, which actually went back four generations.

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