FORT WALTON BEACH — It’s not been an easy road for 14-year-old Taylor Springer, but on Tuesday morning she was reminded again that tough beginnings can lead to happily ever afters.
The realization dawned during a 45-minute assembly with a pilot from Miami named Barrington Irving who clawed his way out of poverty and into the record books when he became the youngest person to fly around the world solo at the age of 23.
“I’ve literally worked from the ground up, too,” said the eighth-grader, who has “been through the foster care system.”
Taylor was one of hundreds of elementary, middle and high school students to hear Irving’s message during a series of assemblies at Choctawhatchee High School designed to inspire them not only to dream big, but consider careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.
“Don’t let anyone stop you from pursuing your dreams,” Irving, who is 29 and president of Experience Aviation, told the students. “And remember, it all starts with one step forward.”
Irving also spoke to adults who gathered at the Okaloosa STEMM Center on Monday evening to hear his story, which began in the most unexpected way.
Irving was 15 years old when a pilot named Gary Robinson walked up to him in a store and asked if he’d ever considered becoming a pilot.
“The first thing out of my mouth was, ‘I don’t think I’m smart enough to fly an airplane,’ ” Irving recalled.
Out of curiosity, Irving asked Robinson how much money he made. When Robinson told Irving $117 an hour, the teenager’s interest kicked up.
“I said, ‘I may not be smart enough to fly a plane, but I’m certainly not dumb enough not to try,” Irving told students with a laugh.
But it wasn’t luck that landed him in front of the students Tuesday, he said, and it wasn’t because anyone handed his future to him.
It was because he fought for it and never let it go even when it meant turning down a full football scholarship to the University of Florida.
“I believed in something, and what I believed was I could become a pilot,” he said. “I was just wiling to do whatever it took.”
Now he’s ready to give back, and at the advice of Robinson — who Irving still considers his mentor — he has started talking to students to spark their interest in STEM through hands-on activities organized by his nonprofit company.
His next venture will begin in September 2014 when he boards an airplane retrofitted into a classroom and starts offering students a new way to take field trips.
“Basically (I’m) creating a real-life Magic School Bus with wings,” Irving said.
During his five-month journey he will land on all seven continents and ask students to use math and science to help direct his activities in each location.
“We need to make math and science real for kids,” he said after his talk. “I know what it can mean for these kids.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.
