I recently posted a 'Hot Topic Tuesday' to my Instagram and TikTok talking about the things I would do differently if I had a redo at flight school. If you want to watch the original video click here to visit my Instagram and see the video. This is a continuation of the main points I made in that video along with explanations as to why I made those points. If you happen to be making a decision about flying school maybe some of these points will help you out, as a PSA these are individual reasons to myself and I'm aware that this won't be everyone's story.
Ok so with that out the way and with reference to my video, the first point I made was that I would choose modular over integrated. For anyone not up to speed, I am currently on the integrated programme with Leading Edge Aviation. At the time of deciding I was mainly considering the ground school aspect of training as I knew that would be the hardest part for me. I didn't realise that flying schools offer the ground school programme just the same as the integrated programme. This means that in my class there were students on the modular programme, so they complete ground school with us and then they go off and do the flying separately on their own. Had I realised this at the time I would have chosen to do this, my main worry was if I had to complete ground school on my own it would never get completed because I need the discipline of a school setting. To further add to this I find the environment of flight school in general quite competitive, which for me was not helpful. I constantly felt behind and not clever enough to be in the same rooms. I find it hard to enjoy where I am at currently because it is always 'whats the next thing' and its hard not to get wrapped up in that mindset, especially when everyone around you is progressing. This is another reason going modular would have been more beneficial for me,I don't always do my best in a competitive environment and equally being surrounded by people all doing the same thing; it can be helpful to discuss trials and tribulations, but its also tiring to be around the same type of people. I really enjoy talking to different people in different jobs and finding out about what they do.
Of course a massive reason people choose modular is the 'affordability' of it. You can work whilst training as it isn't a full time course. This is another reason I would choose this route. I didn't realise how not working would be so hard. I know how ridiculous that sounds but as someone who loved their job I find it very hard to sit still and just be in Spain for flying. Considering the lack of flying in Spain at the moment its hard to have no other purpose. I would love to get a part time job to give me something to do and to have other people to talk to.
Something else I mentioned in my video was to go out a bit more often. During ground school I only went out probably at most a handful of times. I thought that if I went out on Friday night I would be missing out on a night of revision, plus the next day if I got drunk! Looking back now a night out every so often would have been good for me, to get out of the stressful environment, and also a mini reset at the end of the week. I always saw it as a 'waste of a night of revision' however I think it would have meant that the other 6 days of revision would have been more productive. Towards the end of ground school I really burnt myself out, revising constantly and it made me really hate it. I did not enjoy the ground school experience and I think this was a big reason why. I didn't socialise much outside of the academy and I was just trying to survive everyday. My best advice as someone who struggled through ground school would be to take a night off every now and then. You will probably thank yourself for it because you will be more locked in to the work.
In the same vein as the point above would be to visit home more frequently than I did. During my 6 months in Oxford I think I went home 4 times. I didn't want to go home because I wouldn't do any productive revision, however in hindsight it would have been good to get out of the ground school bubble that is so consuming. Even just to see my home friends for a day would have been better than nothing, but again, I was so worried that I was missing out on valuable revision time. Also on this point; I felt really guilty for doing anything other than revising, to the point that even though I was not doing the most productive revision I would still sit at my laptop for hours. Unfortunately the act of revising only works if you are actually covering topics you need to work on, not just doing the same easy questions over and over :/
Other than that integrated has been good, its an easy option due to the fact that I don't have to sort out my own training plan. Of course I am in the privledged position that I can afford this course, however let this be a sign to you that just because it is more expensive it doesn't mean its automatically better. It is definietly the more convienient option, but for me the environment was not the most conducive to feeling successful throughout each step.