By JULIA MEADE

I begin my time as the vice president of the University of Pittsburgh’s Senate Council and columnist for the University Times by first giving myself and you, reader, some orientation.

I was born in Munich, Germany, to an American lieutenant colonel in the Army. My mother is German; she was born immediately after World War II ended and was educated until 8th grade. After my father retired from his 20-year military career, my parents and their three daughters, of whom I am the eldest, settled on the farm that has been in the Meade family for over a century near Iowa City, Iowa.

My father had actually wanted to join the Air Force, but his poor eyesight prevented it. After he became a farmer, he began taking flying lesson, eventually becoming a private pilot and flight instructor. Once I entered high school and began to think more seriously about my childhood dream of becoming a doctor, my father thought it would make me more interesting if I listed a private pilot’s license on my college application. On this point, he was probably right.

Full transparency, I had no interest in flying. Small aircraft are loud, cramped and accident prone. But I wasn’t the one in charge here. Just like you (unless you’re Joan Gabel) someone else is in charge. And that someone may have some very grand ideas for you, or worse, they are not even aware of your incredible awesomeness just the way you are.

So, there I was, 13 years old, barreling down some barely paved runway in the Iowa countryside in a Cessna 152 with my dad telling me, “When your speed hits 80 mph, pull the ailerons back and get the nose up.” I will admit, take-off is pretty cool. But then I spent the rest of my time trying not to crash. I am certain this resonates with many of you — the feeling that you are on the bleeding edge of your incompetence and your decisions have real consequences.

I remember my first “check ride” — the certifying flight I had to take alone to get my private pilot’s license. We called it getting “A Hundred Dollar Hamburger” because that’s about how much it cost to fly to Muscatine, Iowa, on the Mississippi River, buy lunch, and head back to the Iowa City airport.

During the flight, I lost my horizon. Losing the horizon is when you can’t figure out how the plane is oriented in space. Entry level pilots learn to fly by landmarks whereas the pros use instruments and advanced technology to keep the plane upright. Somehow, the clouds and the sun had tricked me, and I was starting to pull up and roll sideways. I could feel that things were not as they should be and I had to believe my instruments before my limbic system shut off my ability to problem solve. I couldn’t run, I couldn’t freeze, I couldn’t call anyone for help. In that moment, a girl not even old enough to drive, was in charge of her destiny.

In times of stress, we do not rise to the occasion but fall back to our highest level of training. I was fortunate that my father had trained me well not to lose my cool. Operate, navigate, communicate — in that order — has gotten me though many situations where I find myself simultaneously in charge and not in charge of my life. 

I look forward to serving as your vice president. Drop me a line at jcm154@pitt.edu if you’ve ever been to Iowa or lost and found your horizon again.

Yours sincerely,

Julia

Julia Meade is an associate professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine and a pediatric neuro-oncologist at Children’s Hospital. She is the new vice president of the University Senate.