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Alumni Spotlight - Maggie Peacock ('22)
The story begins at a Habersham County Rotary meeting Peacock attended with her father when she was a sophomore at Tallulah Falls School. That day, she heard a presentation on local flight schools offering lessons at the Habersham County Airport. Peacock was intrigued, so she signed up for a discovery flight. “I did one flight and fell in love with it,” said Peacock.
She immediately started taking flight lessons with Blue Skies Aviation/Horizon and soon decided to acquire her private license. Peacock’s parents and TFS were supportive of her goal. “Ms. Popham set up a work-study my senior year so I could go to the airport in the mornings, do more flight training, and have more time to learn about the ins and outs of the airport,” she said. “Ms. Popham even showed up at the airport on the day of my private check ride.”
Peacock was not only soaring in the sky, she was also soaring in the classroom. She thrived in the intimate learning environment at TFS. “All of my teachers were phenomenal,” she said. “They were always available when I needed them, and I loved them all.” She took honors chemistry, college Chemistry 214, college Chemistry 224, and honors physics from Beth Heubner. “Maggie rises to a challenge and is willing to work to achieve her goals,” said Heubner. “She knows what she wants and will put in the time and effort to get there.”
Maggie was determined to get ahead and took advantage of the college courses taught on campus. “The dual enrollment on campus was extremely helpful,” she said. “I graduated from high school with over 40 college credits. I will graduate from college in 2.5 years because of dual enrollment.
These two experiences merged as Peacock prepared for her senior year at TFS. All along, Peacock had planned to attend Georgia Technological Institute to pursue a career in aerospace engineering; however, the more time she spent in the air, the more she realized she wanted to be a pilot. She decided to change course. “I fell in love with Auburn the summer before my senior year, but because of the engineering program at Tech, I couldn’t justify going out of state. When I decided to go the flight route, Auburn had the flight program,” she said.
Director of College Counseling Dr. Brandy Corbett was ready to help. “Dr. Corbett was in my corner, guiding me through the college application process. She said, ‘We will figure out how to make this work.’ She knew the ins and outs of how to get to Auburn,” said Peacock. “Without her encouragement and help, I would not have ended up here.”
After graduating in May 2022, Peacock pursued her professional flight degree at Auburn. Peacock has thrived in her coursework, and in June, she competed in the Air Race Classic – an all-women’s cross-country flight race. “Every year, Auburn sends 2-3 teams. It was an honor to be chosen for that team,” she said. “We raced over 2400 miles.”
Peacock has just acquired her commercial multi-pilot license and is about to start certified flight instructor training. Peacock will graduate from Auburn in December 2024 with a professional flight degree.