Aiming High: Wilmington Country Club Centennial Scholarship Winner Aubrie Cresswell

As a child growing up in Yosemite National Park, Aubrie Cresswell watched pilots handle out-of-control wildfires and engage in daring rescues. Their range, agility and precision in harrowing situations made her dream of someday joining their ranks.  

After moving the family to Delaware, Aubrie’s mother began her twenty-year career as a pastry chef at Wilmington Country Club (WCC). Thanks to her mother’s employment—and her own time working at WCC as a teen—Aubrie received more than $14,000 through the Wilmington Country Club Centennial Scholarship to pursue flight training. This scholarship at the Delaware Community Foundation (DCF) awards to a high school senior or college student showing financial need and academic promise. Children of employees, as well as employees in college themselves, can apply every Spring. 

Before learning to fly, Cresswell earned her associate degree in finance at Cecil College, then spent time in England for a bachelor in business administration and then an MBA from East London University. At university, she spent hours watching planes arrive and depart from London City Airport—never quite letting go of her childhood dream. 

With the encouragement of mentors and family, Cresswell built up the confidence to pursue flight school. She found Fly Legacy Aviation in Philadelphia. At the age of 27, she began the Professional Pilot Program with Fly Legacy—steadily accumulating 600 flying hours. While the process is expensive, Cresswell is determined to accumulate the full 1500 hours of flying necessary to pursue work with a commercial airline.  

Cresswell has already earned her Private Pilot License, Instrument Rating, Commercial License and is a Certified Flight Instructor, but wants to eventually fly for an airline or in the private sector. Her long-term goals include working with a major airline or UPS.   
 
A new mom, Cresswell gave birth to a baby boy in March and is currently working toward Certified flight instructor-instrument (CFII) and Multi-Engine Rating. Of the many awards she has won through the WCC and the DCF, Aubrie says, “I am extremely thankful to the Wilmington Country Club and the Delaware Community Foundation for the HUGE impact the scholarships have made on my life.” 

Students can apply for scholarships through the DCF scholarship portal starting December 15.