VALLEY WOMAN ULTIMATE JET-SETTER.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
WOODLAND HILLS - It's in the eyes, Nancy Horrell says. The look. She sees it at the mall, at holiday parties, at chance meetings on the streets - anywhere friends and old acquaintances reach out to shake her daughter's hand or give her a hug when she comes home for a visit. There may be a bit of envy in the look, but only a bit. How can there not be? This is the stuff dreams are made of, this life 24-year-old Trena Emerson is living. Who wouldn't want to trade places with her? Even her own mother jokes about it, saying she wants to be just like her daughter when she grows up. A high school homecoming queen who grows up to become an Air Force fighter jet pilot for her country. Drop-dead beautiful on the outside. Tough as nails and cool as, well, a fighter pilot on the inside. It's like the kid who is mistaken for just a dumb jock, but grows up to be a nuclear scientist - or a twist on the tale of the glamorous screen beauty who was the ugly duckling Ugly Duckling scorned as unsightly, grows to be graceful swan. [Dan. Fairy Tale: Andersen’s Fairy Tales] See : Beauty Ugly Duckling ugly outcast until fully grown. [Fairy Tale: Misc.] See : Ugliness no one gave a second look in high school. It doesn't happen often. When it does, you see the look. Sure, there's bound to be some envy in it, but mostly it's pride and a little awe that Nancy Horrell sees in the eyes of kids, old friends and acquaintances who see her daughter while she's home on leave. ``All my friends come over, but they don't want to see me; they want to see my daughter,'' Nancy said. Trena, who was 1993 homecoming queen at Crespi High School in Encino before she became class valedictorian in 1994 at Louisville High School Louisville High School may refer to:
v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. Top Gun award in her fighter pilot training class at Laughlin Air Force Base Laughlin Air Force Base (IATA: DLF, ICAO: KDLF, FAA LID: DLF) is a facility of the United States Air Force located five miles (8 km) east of the central business district (CBD) of Del Rio, Texas, close to the border of the United States with Mexico. in Texas early this year when I first wrote about her life - the type a Walter Mitty Wal·ter Mit·ty n. An ordinary, often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs. [After the main character in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber. dreams about. Her instructor pilot, Capt. Matt Basler, said she was at the top of the class of 70 trainees: 67 men and three women. ``I have no doubt whatsoever that she will be one of our top combat pilots one day,'' Basler said, adding that there are no longer any restrictions against women flying in combat. Well, the captain's been right on the money. Trena was the only woman left in her final F-16 fighter training class, in which she was at the top in academics and also received two special awards for precision bombing Bombing directed at a specific point target. . Right now, she and all her possessions are in a small U-Haul trailer headed for Cannon Air Force Base Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Curry County, New Mexico. The host wing is the 27th Special Operations Wing,[1] whose mission includes infiltration, exfiltration and re-supply of special operations forces; air refueling of special in New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). for the first leg of her tour of duty in which she will be flying F-16s all over the world, just in case we need her. For now, however, it's when she's home in the Valley that she has the biggest impact on people's lives. ``Trena's a wonderful role model for all girls and often stops by to visit us when she's home,'' said Marirose Dirstine, assistant principal for student activities at Louisville High School. ``Everyone always gathers around her and wants to know what it feels like, being up there flying one of those fighter planes,'' Dirstine said. The look. ``She says it's easier for her to fly a jet fighter Jet fighter may refer to:
That's typical of her daughter, Nancy Horrell says: Keep the conversation light. Don't take on any airs because they think you're someone special. Don't underestimate the challenges in the life of any other 24-year-old woman. Trena says she realizes she's a role model to young girls, just as astronaut Sally Ride Sally Kristen Ride (born May 26 1951) is an American former astronaut who in 1983 became the first American woman to reach outer space.[1][2] She was preceded by two Soviet women, Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982). was a role model for Trena when she was a third-grader at St. Mel's St. Mel's is the name of both the cathedral and the secondary boys' boarding and day school located in the town of Longford in Ireland. The episcopal seat was moved from nearby Ballymahon (?? should it not be Aradgh) in the 19th century. Catholic School, where she used to stare out at those blue skies and think they might be an interesting place for a girl to hang out in someday. ``Sure, it makes me feel good and proud to be considered a role model, but to me this is just like any other job, and I'm trying to do the best I can,'' Trena said from the road Monday. Her mother smiled at the comment. She's heard it many times before. Flying a fighter jet may be just going to work to her daughter. To most people, it's the stuff dreams are made of. ``It wasn't until her graduation from F-16 training, when she was up there flying that jet fighter, that I really understood the tremendous power and ear-shattering noise,'' Nancy said. ``When she landed, Trena got out of the cockpit, took off her helmet and slowly started to shake out her long hair.'' That's when she saw it again, Nancy Horrell says. In the eyes. From the maintenance crew to the reviewing stand. The look. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Trena Emerson, 24, who was a high school homecoming queen in Woodland Hills, was the academic ace and Top Gun award winner in her fighter pilot training class at Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas. |
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