Olivia Wieseler
I’ve always loved to learn. In fact, it’s one of the reasons I became a journalist — I learn something new in my job every day. It’s possible that’s why school came fairly easy for me, but I can’t say I loved all the classes, studying, homework and tests. So when I graduated college back in May 2020, I assumed that would be the end of my formal education, at least for a while.
Just a little over a month later, I’m back in the classroom — a virtual one anyway.
I’m currently in the midst of a roughly 2-week, or 14-hour, course to get my drone license.
A class just to fly a drone, you ask? You read right. There’s actually a lot more to it than you might think.
The Star-Herald has recently purchased a drone to explore all the opportunities it can bring to news coverage, and Jeff Van Patten and I will be its pilots, once we get our licenses.
When I found out I’d be working toward my drone license, I was excited and a bit nervous. I’ve flown a toy drone before for fun in my parents’ backyard, and I wasn’t too great a pilot. And now they want me to fly a real, high-tech, quality drone? Eep!
Still, I knew it would be OK because I’m a pretty quick learner, and I’d be taking a course on how to fly a drone.