6th December 2023.

I remember when I got my first roster for the month of December and my biggest worry was if I would be working over Christmas, because it would be my first time being away from family on my own in a different country. But that first roster I had (I think) probably 3 New York's and I was so excited. I went home and listened to 'Welcome to New York' by Taylor Swift as I packed my bag. Even trying to pack in a cabin sized bag was hard enough, especially for New York in the winter!

The first time I stepped on the aircraft at Heathrow is when I thought, 'shit this is actually happening'; I felt really out of my depth, all the training beforehand focuses mostly on emergency procedures, the different aircraft types, security and SOPs, but only 2/3 days out of a 5 week training schedule focuses on the service aspect of the job. Understandably, because emergency procedures are vital but my god nothing prepared me for my first flight.

Luckily one crew member took me under her wing (pardon the pun) and she explained how everything runs and what I need to do. Even simple things like where to put my bag or hang my jacket up.

Eventually we made it to JFK and I was so excited, so tired, but so excited to see New York, because I had never been before. I didn't do anything special for my first trip, but I loved wondering around and exploring, I went to Time Square which I cannot explain how amazing it was. You really have to walk around looking up in New York!

As it was around the Christmas period I saw Macy's with all the Christmas decor, and Bryant Park had the ice rink set up with the little Christmas market surrounding it, it was so fun seeing what I would come across. It was freezing though so it wasn't long before my hands and face were frozen. I walked to see the Rockefeller Tree although I was slightly disappointed because it wasn't as big as I had thought and it just looked like a big Christmas tree. I don't know what I was expecting, but the hype around it was a lot bigger than the actual tree!

Though trip was only 1 night, I managed to do a lot within the time because I just wanted to see so much and really make the most of the time I had there. Before I knew it, it was time to fly home and I was definitely still out of my depth but the crew were so lovely. After all, everyone has been in that position so they helped me out with everything, and my manager was really good at explaining how they typically do the services.

When I had got home I couldn't believe this was now my job. It made me so excited to think of all the trips I will be going on and for the different crew I will meet. I was daunted by the unfamiliarity of all the different aircrafts and the different ways that the trips are managed but I just had to jump in to that knowing the crew would help me.

Something the managers would say every time was that 'we are a team and we all work together to sort any issues out, no one is on their own in any situation' - that is something I will definitely take into my future career as a pilot for sure.