WHILE some high school graduates remain in lim are either proscrastinating, or remain undecided about what plan to do with the rest of their lives, there are some young Jamaicans who already have already mapped a flight plan toward their career goals, and have been taking the necessary steps to ensure they realise their life’s dream.

Jason Rimann is one of them.

The 18-year-old student of Wolmer’s Boys’ School in Kingston is well on his way to becoming a commercial airline pilot, having already obtained private pilot certification. He took his first steps toward formal flight training at age 15 by enrolling in the Caribbean Aviation Training Centre (CATC) at the Tinson Pen Aerodrome in the summer of 2012. He successfully completed ground school, but was too young to begin flying then.

A year later, he returned to CATC, and had his first go in the cockpit. He completed the 40 hours of flying and earned his private pilot’s licence. In addition to that, he had to complete a practical test — in which he scored 139 points out of a possible 140 — and got his instrument rating, which means that he can operate the aircraft using only the instruments in the cockpit. This comes into play when visibility is compromised, he explained to the Jamaica Observer.

Although he has made such strides in flight school, Rimann, who describes himself as “humble, jovial at times, miserable at times, and a person who likes to explore new things”, says he did not always want to become a pilot.

“I wanted to do medicine up until around age eight,” he admitted.

Ironically, it was a visit to the doctor that was to change his mind.

“I went to the doctor and the doctor began writing a long list of prescriptions. I thought, ‘I’m too lazy to remember all of that’,” he said, laughing.

Since then, inspired by his cousin, piloting has been his dream.

“I began to watch a lot of Youtube videos about planes and piloting, downloading simulators from the Internet,” he recalled, noting that it was always a joy to see a plane passing overhead.

Rimann is now a little over half-way through training for his commercial pilot’s licence, which requires a total of 200 hours of flying, half of which must be pilot-in-command time. He recently obtained a perfect score on his multi engine checkride and was awarded a plaque for excellence in flying at CATC’s annual graduation ceremony.

He does all of this while maintaining good academic standards at school, copping four grade ones, four grade twos and a grade three when he sat the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams in 2014. When asked how he manages to strike balance between piloting and school work, he replied: “I have no idea.”

He said he just does his best in all his endeavours; in line with his school motto, ‘Age Quod Agis’. That aside, Rimann said there is only one key to success: “One key: stay focused.”

On the subject of why he started aviation training this early, Rimman said he heeded the good advice of his father.

“My dad and I decided that it was better to get a headstart. And I thank him for that advice…Without him, I wouldn’t be where I am. There are times when I couldn’t be bothered to go flying, but he encouraged me to go and fly,” he said.

That headstart, he said, will make him more marketable in the competitive aviation industry.

“I’m at an advantage because I’m going to be younger than the other people applying for a job; therefore I will have a longer career,” he said.

His experience has helped shape his outlook on the importance of taking early steps toward one’s career goals and he urged his peers to make similar moves.

“The earlier the better. Simple,” said Rimann.

In addition to commercial piloting, some of the career options open to Rimann so far include flight instructor, military , crop dusting,

CATC opened in 2001 and is one of about 300 established by the Cessna aircraft company around the world. In 2006, it was named the number one flight school in the world. A year later it remained in the top five, then reclaimed the top spot in 2009.