Brooke Katich during Fall Welcome of her Freshmen Year
Brooke Katich is the first in her immediate family to attend college, but she has a different kind of legacy that is just as important.
A junior majoring in aviation management and operations at the Western Michigan University College of Aviation, she has some deep familial roots embedded in the industry. Katich, who calls the Edison Park community on the North Side of Chicago "home," is the first to nourish them via higher education.
How about these connections:
An uncle has a private-pilot's license.
Katich's mother and grandmother were flight attendants, with her mother operating for two charter companies: Av Atlantic and Viscount. And "Mom" was on a flight on which The Rolling Stones were passengers.
A great uncle flew helicopters in the Vietnam War.
Her great-grandfather built planes that served the nation in World War II.
All that helped when it came to choosing a career path. So did living about 15 minutes away from Chicago O'Hare International Airport. "You can hear the planes," she says. "My house sometimes shakes a little when a plane flies overhead. I would lay on my trampoline when I was younger and feel the vibrations. I thought it was so awesome how these giant machines could be up there in the sky." The best part of family vacations for her was the trip to the airport, and watching the take-offs and landings.
Katich recalls always being interested in some form of transportation as she grew. "When I was 2, I wanted to be a bus driver. From there, it went to taxi driver, then being behind the wheel of a 2001 Pontiac Trans Am, being a captain on a cruise ship, a train conductor, and even a pilot.”
Katich's first flight ever in the summer of 2021
The latter step on the career ladder took some determination while she was enrolled in Resurrection College Prep, one of Chicago's largest all-female high schools, and from which she graduated in 2020. The career-oriented course at the school was called Practicum, which entailed job shadowing and job-site visits. One of those took her to a nearby hospital where she witnessed a birth. Amazing to be sure, but by that time she had more not-earthbound interests. Another challenge was being "in an all-girls school dealing with a male-dominated career."
Her Practicum teacher apparently liked a challenge as well and she informed Katich about a fly-in being organized by United Airlines on the campus of Southern Illinois University. She applied, was accepted, and received a free first-class flight to the event because of an essay she submitted. She and 70 other students took part and interacted with United pilots. Her career trajectory was starting to find its path.
Like most things in life, journeys sometimes involve detours. Katich came to one of those detours just recently. “While I originally was going to pursue a degree in aviation flight science, a short time ago I opted to change my career course and focus on the aviation management and operations side of the house. Flying is expensive, and puts a lot of pressure on students. Coupled with the fact I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I thought I would made the decision easier.”
Prior to enrolling at WMU, Katich was basically flying solo to determine what the next step would be. "We knew that I needed something that was financially do-able and was somewhere near Chicago so that I could drive home for breaks," she says. Because of the United fly-in, Southern Illinois was in the higher-education picture, but WMU won the day. "I asked a few older kids from my neighborhood and a lot suggested Western because it was less than three hours away in Kalamazoo. And it just so happened to have one of the biggest aviation schools in the country. It felt like fate. Plus, WMU was closer to home than Southern."
As Katich reflects on her decision to pursue aviation management and operations, she has come to an understanding. “While it was a very sad and hard decision to make,” she said “I’m excited for what’s out there. I’ve always believed everything happens for a reason, the new pathway is full of possibilities. While initially I felt like I just dropped my dreams, I’m eager to begin this next chapter in my life.”
Katich and friend enjoying their United Airlines outreach event
Katich has joined the ranks of Western's chapter of Alpha Eta Rho, the international co-ed fraternity that links careers in the aviation industry to colleges and universities. "I wanted to meet people and make connections in aviation," she says. "I was very active in sports in high school and realized that it would be best to get involved in college in something that pertains to my career."
While in her third year, she has a fondness for the course in aviation meteorology taught by Kyle Jehnzen. "I like the way he handles the course," she says. "He just doesn't read from slides. He throws in his own information. Some of it is somewhat difficult, but I like learning about things that apply to my daily life. I now check the weather every day."
If weather is not a hobby yet, art is for Katich, who has four years of that subject on her high-school resume. "I was always best at being creative. Drawing and painting are so therapeutic, and I love to see the final product.
Benefits of being a Bronco - Katich at a WMU Football game supporting her team
"A hobby of mine is ironically starting new hobbies," she says. "I wanted to learn how to ski . . . so I learned how to ski. Next winter I'm going to learn how to snowboard. This summer will be skateboarding. But I've always stuck with art."
Katich admits to having a few goose-bump moments already in her Western career. "My first flight as a pilot was in the summer of 2021," she says. "The moment I looked down the runway and took off, I felt so much adrenalin. I knew a career in aviation was something I wanted to pursue." Close to that sensation is each time she enters the college's new Aviation Education Center. "Each time I step inside, I remember what I'm in school for. It makes all my small issues disappear. I can just focus on myself and my career. I look at my career choice now as not working for an airline, but running one!"
The College of Aviation's home base, the Battle Creek Executive Airport at Kellogg Field, is one of the busiest in the state of Michigan so Katich is routinely witness to plenty of take-offs and landings. Which also gives her a bird’s eye view on operations, management, and how busy airports function.
But when she's home, more often than not, she will find herself parking as close as possible to O'Hare to watch those "giant machines" come in and head off toward the horizon. That's when she knows she’s "home" in a career as well.