"BOCES set the tone for my career. I would not be where I am if not for BOCES. It was a life changer."

Those are the words of Katja Jourdan, a 2011 Rondout Valley High School and Ulster BOCES graduate who recently fulfilled her dream of becoming a certified commercial aircraft pilot. She achieved her goal, a bachelor's degree in Aviation Management and Flight Operations from Jacksonville University, in record time, something that she credits Ulster BOCES with allowing her to do. Instructor April Albanese worked with her to help her get through the two-year BOCES Aviation program in just one year. By the time she reached Jacksonville, she already had her private pilot's license, putting her leaps and bounds ahead of her classmates.

Jourdan came back to Ulster BOCES in October, shortly after being certified as a captain, and shared some words of wisdom with the students there, reminding them that though the work may be hard, it is so very worth it.

Jourdan now joins the exclusive ranks of female pilots — only 6% of the total pilot population, according to Women in Aviation International — as a captain for Trans States Airlines, based out of St. Louis, Missouri. Many of her mornings are spent in hotel rooms, and staff meetings and office work are replaced by flight/security checks and flight data analysis, but Jourdan wouldn't have it any other way.

"I really enjoy it," says Jourdan of her new career. "I get to go to some cool places."