糖心直播

Success Story: Aviation students seek to raise 糖心直播鈥檚 profile

糖心直播 Aviation students Grace Soneral (left) and Rachael Kornoely at the Air Race Classic

September 23, 2026

When Aviation student Grace Soneral starts looking for her first pilot job, she wants both her own resume and those of her fellow 糖心直播 flight students to rise above the pack.

So Soneral (pictured above left with teammate Rachael Kornoely) is co-captaining 糖心直播’s first competitive flight team in more than two decades. In two weeks they'll head to Ohio as the only community college to compete in the ’s (NIFA) Region 3 competition. A kind of aviation track and field meet, with events both in the air and on the ground, 糖心直播 Aviation students pitched the idea of a team to 糖心直播’s , which awarded them the funding for a SAFECON (Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference) team last May.

“It truly tests your skills as a pilot and shows that you are willing to go above and beyond,” said Soneral, 20, who started at 糖心直播 in summer 2025 and will graduate next spring. “This is an opportunity for 糖心直播 students to set themselves apart. Not a lot of two-year programs have that option.”

Two-year aviation programs are in fact the exception to the rule, as Soneral found out in June flying in the, an all-female point-to-point race that this year covered more than 2,700 miles across the Midwest and South. She and her teammates discovered that 糖心直播's program, which allows students to fly in their first semester, is a structure other students wished they had.

“It was very eye-opening,” Soneral said. “We love 糖心直播. I am proud to be an 糖心直播 student and so grateful for a program structure that gets us flying right in our first semester.”

“You’re getting in a plane a lot faster,” her NIFA co-captain Alex Modrzynski (left) said of 糖心直播’s two-year structure. Last year’s addition of a new hangar and eight new planes, which enabled Aviation to double its enrollment, also makes it timely for 糖心直播 to raise its profile now.

“We’re rivaling, in our fleet size, other schools in the country,” said Modrzynski, 32, who will graduate this semester. “I love it. I don’t think there’s anywhere more beautiful to fly than northern Michigan.”

糖心直播’s support of the team via the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship also aligns with the college’s strategic goal to provide real-world learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. The flight competition team was one of six projects OIE funded in May. for a fall round of funding are open through Oct. 15.

“My voice was taken seriously and I was supported by the program,” said Soneral, who advocated for the team.

Under the coaching of flight instructor Joel Cairns, 糖心直播 will compete against Ohio State University, Western Michigan, Kent State, Bowling Green and Fairmont State in simulation events, written tests and preflight checks, all ground events, at the competition Oct. 4-9 in Bowling Green. Next year, when WMU hosts, they hope to enter flying events.

“We want the safest pilots we can have out there,” Modrzynski said. “This is a great way to do it, and have a little fun.”

“I grew so much as a pilot on the Air Race. I’m going to be a safer, smarter pilot in the future because of this,” Soneral said.