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- Oklahoma City, o
For Zhamarius Harmon, a senior at Putnam City High School, excitement occurs only when he’s flying.
The 17-year-old senior is a licensed pilot and spent his summer training in a U.S. Air Force program.
He hasn’t flown in weeks since he came back to Putnam City High, but he still dreams of being in the sky.
“Knowing you’re in the air, sometimes 500 feet above the ground, it’s just something that’s incomparable to anything, the senior said. “You can see everything. You’re flying around clouds, and everything is awesome. It’s just a beautiful sight. I love it.”
Yet, the 17-year-old senior knows he almost didn’t make it back from pilot training at all.
A plane malfunction turned a solo flight into a near-death experience.
With a changed perspective, he returned for his senior year at his school, where he participates in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, runs track and plays cornerback for the football team.
“It’s always running through my mind I couldn’t be here today,” he commented.
The student was one of three JROTC cadets in Oklahoma selected for the Air Force Chief of Staff Flight Academy Scholarship Program, a high school pilot training program.
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