Senior Spotlight: Southern High’s Lindsey Bittinger

About this series: Patch stopped by Southern High School on May 22 to speak with a few graduating seniors about their post-high school plans.

When Southern High School senior Lindsey Bittinger was in fifth grade she attended the air show at Andrews Air Force Base. And it was in that moment she decided she wanted to be a pilot.

“I went to the Andrews Air Force Base show and I decided I wanted to fly,” Bittinger said. “It was the Blue Angles and the fact that they were so close, yet working so well together, it was jaw dropping.”

The 18-year-old will finally get the chance to begin perusing her dream of becoming a pilot when she continues her education at Virginia Tech in the Navy ROTC program.

Bittinger plans on majoring in engineering at Virginia Tech in the fall. After school she will owe time in the service and hopes to commission as a Navy officer and land a pilot slot.

“Originally I wanted to join ROTC because I wanted to fly,” Bittinger said. “When I started junior Navy ROTC it was the camaraderie you have and the service. I like the fact that I am serving my country and fighting for freedom.”

When Bittinger graduates from Southern on Friday and moves on to Virginia Tech, she said it is the people at the school she will miss the most.

“Since we are such a small school, I have gone to school with these people for 18 years,” she said. “Being able to know my teachers—not just the fact that they can teach, but I know them personally and it makes it easier for me to ask for help.”

See Also:

• Senior Spotlight: Southern High’s August Hein
• Senior Spotlight: Southern High’s Taylor Covert