America’s first black female combat pilot, Vernice Armour, told a group of about 100 students, faculty and staff at Chattanooga State Technical Community College today about following her passion and accomplishing her goals.
“You need to acknowledge the obstacles, but don’t give them power,” she said. “Prepare yourself to overcome those obstacles” that at the end are going to help you follow your passion, she said.
Ms. Armour, who left the U.S. Marines Corp as a captain in 2007, spoke for about an hour about her accomplishments, including joining Army ROTC and the Nashville Police Department.
“Since I was a child I wanted to be a police officer riding in a horse all over town,” she said.
But looking for greater challenges she later joined the Marine Corps, a family tradition, and eventually became a pilot and served in Iraq.
Kimberly Presley, a freshman at Chattanooga State Community College who drove almost an hour to meet Ms. Armour, said her speech was very inspiring.
“I want to join the Air Force, but because I’m a woman I didn’t think I had a chance,” she said. “Meeting her has showed me that it is possible.”
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Perla Trevizo joined the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2007 and covers immigration/diversity issues and higher education. She holds a master’s degree in newswire journalism from Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas. In 2011 she participated in the Bringing Home the World international reporting fellowship program sponsored by the International Center for Journalists, producing a series on Guatemalan immigrants for which she ...
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