From New Jersey to Nationals: Seth Shapiro Finds His Place with the Sky Broncos

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BATTLE CREEK, MI – Because of "family," homesickness has never short-circuited the accomplishments and achievements of New Jersey-born Seth Shapiro at the WMU College of Aviation

Not the folks with whom he grew up with in the central part of the state or his buddies among the 2025 graduating class at Highland Park High School.

This "family" consists of his colleagues and cohorts on the Sky Broncos, the university's precision-flying team that over the years has garnered as much national glory and reputation as the school's hockey and football squads.

"I have become a better pilot," says the sophomore dual major in flight science and aviation management, "by surrounding myself with such a strong community of pilots that the flight team has."

His sense of becoming a pilot is buried deep in a childhood formed some 1,300 miles east of his current base of operations at the college's home campus in Kalamazoo.

"When I was three years old," he recalls, "my brother would have regular appointments at an office across the street from an airport.  My mom would take me there to watch all the prop planes.  That was also the first place that I flew a passenger once I got my private pilot's license, which was a cool full-circle moment 14 years later."

Shapiro took his first discovery flight when he was 13, an experience that he says "hooked" him.  By 15, flying became

 "more serious" as a career path.  "I soloed in the summer after my sophomore year of high school and got my private in my senior year."

It was also as a 15-year-old when he became a "do-all" intern at that same flight school serving his home community of around 15,000 people.  "Taking that job was one of the best and important decisions of my life," he says. "I got paid in aircraft-rental hours, so I accumulated a ton of fun hours during high school taking friends up."

More career oriented, Shapiro says he crossed paths with "important mentors and gained a general understanding of the aviation industry.  I learned a ton about the importance of hard work and grew tremendously as a person.  All of this points to who I am today."

All in all, he worked there -- later as the chief intern -- for three-plus years during high school.  "It was a difficult job and very independent, but for me it was incredibly formative."

College was next and Shapiro cast a wide net to examine many aviation programs.  His first choice -- not Western -- rejected his application and he considered enrolling in a New Jersey 

state school and a "Part 61" training school on the side.  Enter his parents.

"They convinced me in March of my senior year to attend a 'Future Bronco Day' at Western," he says about being "completely won over.  I had a great tour with the aviation ambassador, who I now work with.  I was completely impressed by the Cirrus fleet, and with all of the networking opportunities that Western provided."

In the short time Shapiro has been on campus, he's taken steps to pursue his own networking paths.  He is the Airline Pilots Association's representative on the governing board of the Western Student Association.  And he serves as the secretary of WMU's Business Aviation Club.  As a dual major in the industry, he is charting a course that could lead toward airline piloting, airport management or a corporate flight department.

But at the head of the pack is his affiliation with the Sky Broncos. "I compete in computer accuracy, ground trainer, message drop, unlimited navigation and precision landings," he says. "I got involved because I have a competitive itch, which

 stems from playing varsity baseball in high school. I love going to practice every weekend and seeing my hard work pay off."

In the most recent national competition, there was a first-place finish in unlimited navigation for Shapiro, complemented by an eighth in computer accuracy.  

The former "is a two-pilot event," he says, "where we are tasked with planning and flying cross-country as accurately as we possibly can. To be successful, both pilots must communicate and coordinate responsibly to execute their assigned task. This is great for teaching crew-resource management, an incredibly important skill in commercial aviation.

"It is the only time in my short experience where I actually worked as a crew," he says, "and that opportunity was given to me by a WMU RSO (registered student organization), which I think is cool."

You can take a kid out of the Big Apple and all the way to Southwest Michigan, but you can't take the Big Apple out of the kid. That's why Shapiro maintains his fanatic fandom for the New York Yankees and the New York Knicks.  

When back home, he and his dad will take in an annual sports-card convention.  His Kalamazoo days, when not knee-deep in aviation events at the Battle Creek home of the college, will find him and friends at Bronco athletic competitions.

Shapiro believes that his career pathway was charted well by assistant professor Steve Sparks' introductory course.  "He does a great job introducing all freshmen to Western and the aviation industry. He runs his classes a lot like an open forum, which is great for all students."

But No. 1 for Shapiro has been the Sky Broncos flight team. "Going to school 10 hours from where I live was intimidating," he says, "but the team really helped me find a community.  Most of my closest friends are the people I met through the team.  Some of my favorite flying has been with the team."

For Shapiro, there would be only one thing better than having two families. That would be for the New Jerseyan and his

 Sky Broncos teammates to lift up a national championship.