Parkersburg South High School junior Jaiden Vargas is currently training to get her private pilot’s license through River Town Aviation in Williamstown. She is working to eventually become a commercial pilot. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — The sky’s the limit for Jaiden Vargas.

The 16-year-old junior at Parkersburg South High School has always had a love of flying and is now in the process of getting her private pilot’s license with the dream of one day becoming a commercial pilot.

“We travel a lot and we love to travel,” Vargas said of her family. “We have gone to Japan, Iceland and Alaska this past year.

“I have always loved being up in the air. I figured what better way to have a career.”

She is currently working through River Town Aviation in Williamstown to get her pilot’s license which she hopes to have by her 17th birthday in October. She has been flying in a number of different Cessna aircraft. Her goal is to eventually fly for Delta in a number of Boeing aircraft.

Parkersburg South High School junior Jaiden Vargas is involved in activities at school, including Student Council and National Honor Society. She is the president of the West Virginia Association of Student Councils. She plays softball and is currently working to get her private pilot’s license. (Photo Provided)

“I am good under high stress situations,” Vargas said. “Flying a plane definitely falls into that category.

“I just love being up in the sky. You get a different perspective up there.”

She even has an app on her phone that allows her to track planes she sees in the sky and what their destination is.

Many of the planes she sees overhead are heading south to warmer climates.

“I don’t blame them, its been cold here,” Vargas said with a laugh.

Parkersburg South High School junior Jaiden Vargas, right, receives the gavel to assume the presidency this year of the West Virginia Association of Student Councils from former President Caroline Hamilton, left, of Fairmont Senior High School. Vargas is also the Secretary of the Parkersburg South High School Student Council. (Photo Provided)

In addition to flying, she is also involved in student council at South where she serves as Secretary and she serves as the State President of the West Virginia Association of Student Councils.

“Both environments are amazing,” Vargas said.

She said she didn’t know much about student council when she got to South, but decided to join during her freshman year. She became secretary during her sophomore year and again during her junior year.

As part of student council at South, she has been involved in a number of activities and events. This past fall they did the Turkey Hands project where people could pay $1 to send someone a message on a drawn turkey made from an outline of someone’s hand on paper like kids made in elementary school around Thanksgiving.

The money was then used to buy a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need. They ended up buying full Thanksgiving meals for seven or eight families.

Parkersburg South High School junior Jaiden Vargas with some participants in the 2024 South Parkersburg High School Softball Camp. Vargas has played softball since she was in fourth grade and enjoys being an outfielder for the PSHS softball team. The camp allowed younger players to get to work side-by-side with the team to help build their skills. (Photo Provided)

Vargas describes being President of the West Virginia Association of Student Councils as “a whole different level of responsibility” with keeping a lot of things in order.

The state organization hosts events for student councils throughout the state.

“We reach out to them and they reach out to their students and encourage them to get involved,” Vargas said.

The state group does a Legislative Day at the State Capitol in Charleston in March or April. They are able to talk to lawmakers and watch a session of the House of Delegates. The organization also hosted all of the student councils from around the state at Fairmont University last October where they had a speaker come in and speak on the theme of “From Me to We” and what they, as a group, can do to make the state better.

“I feel like a lot of people are pretty worried about themselves, but people don’t always realize that the person next to you might be having a hard day,” Vargas said. “We all need to pay attention to that. As we are moving ‘from me to we,’ we need to try to care more about others. How can this affect a group as a whole instead of us as individuals.”

Parkersburg South High School junior Jaiden Vargas, second from right, along with the other members of Parkersburg South High School Student Council at Walmart shopping for food items as part of the Turkey Hands project that raised money to buy food to provide families in need with a full Thanksgiving dinner last November. They were able to help seven or eight families. (Photo Provided)

As president of the state association, Vargas said she is working with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and encouraging student councils across the state to adopt a park or stretch of highway to clean up in their area.

“We are working to make the state better as a whole, instead of one individual going out and picking up some trash,” Vargas said. For South, they are still deciding what to do. They have done work cleaning up the cemetery behind the school.

She is also involved in community service through the National Honor Society and Key Club.

In being involved in school activities, Vargas said it is not only important to “be involved,” but to “get involved.”

“Being involved in high school is really important,” she said. “I think taking the steps to get there is really important.

Parkersburg South High School junior Jaiden Vargas is part of the National Honor Society as well as Key Club and South’s student council while maintaining a 4.3 GPA. (Photo Provided)

“When you see what student council does, what National Honor Society does, it matters.”

Vargas has also been playing softball since fourth grade after a friend got her to try it.

“You never know if you are going to like it at that age,” she said. “I tried it, the love grew and it is still there.

“I love the outfield and being free out there. It is the last line of defense.”

She is now trying her hand at archery and is enjoying it.

“There is still room for improvement, but that is the same for anything,” Vargas said.

Her plan for after high school is to go to West Liberty University. The school has a partnership with Marshall University to do an aviation program where she will be able to get a Bachelor’s of Science degree in aviation so she can become a commercial pilot.

Vargas will have her private license before she goes to college. Once in college, she will be able to get her instrument rating, log more solo hours, do her flight instruction requirements during her sophomore and junior year and more.

She is still planning to play softball in college and will see if someone can do athletics and flight training at the same time.

“If I don’t finish my hours during the school year, I can go during the summer,” Vargas said.

To get a commercial license, she has to have 1,500 hours of flight time in the air. She currently has around six or seven hours of flight time.

“It will definitely take a few years,” she said.

Vargas said her biggest challenge has been balancing everything she has going on while she has also maintained a 4.3 GPA.

“That is the battle,” she said.

However, all of it helps her grow as a person.

“Even being deeply involved with all of these things, in my opinion, being a better person is what truly matters,” she said. “Being a better person outside of school and sports is what is important to me.

“You can be a well rounded athlete but if you don’t have the personality you are not going to get very far.”

Her flying experiences have taught her patience, focus and dedication in doing what needs to be done to accomplish one’s goals. She has to pay attention to what is happening on her radio and what others are communicating to her and be able to communicate that back.

In her free moments she is looking over different materials about flying and what will be coming up in her flight training.

“I study a lot,” Vargas said. “Being able to go up there and knowing you are in the pilot’s seat and that you are in control. If something happens, it is on you.

“It takes a lot of dedication and courage.”

As an only child, Vargas said one of her biggest challenges is squeezing everything in and always being aware of what is happening next.

“The biggest thing is finding balance and loving and caring for what you do,” she said. “Even if I don’t have a night off during the week, I still enjoy what I am doing. If you enjoy it, you might as well do it.”

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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