An update from the 2008 Tom Hudner Scholarship of Honor Recipient, Rhett Kicklighter in his last semester

Rhett with his mother, Joellen and Renee and Doug LaViolette in 2008

Thanks again for allowing me to receive the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Award. I still remember putting the amount towards a laptop for my freshmen year. It has served me crucially over the past five years.

I am now in my final semester of college at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta and will be graduating with a Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering. 

I started in August of 2008 and have taken 5 years to complete school due to being a part of the Co-op Program at school. Since my second year in school I have spent 5 semesters working in the field of mechanical engineering for both Toyota Industries and then later by Delta Air Lines in their Propulsion Engineering department. 

For Delta I have worked closely with Senior Engineers in daily engine operations for the entire fleet of Delta aircraft. I am currently still employed with Delta working part time my last semester with plans to stay on full time upon graduation. It truly has been a blessing as I love the job and never feel like I am having to go to work.

In school I have been active in the Yellow Jacket Flying Club since my freshmen year, including serving as an officer for the club over the past 3 years. I have enjoyed a lot of my classes and was apart of a research project for the school of Aerospace Engineering that designed and tested new avionics for planes. This was a truly valuable experience for me that provided a lot of experience.