AN ASPIRING female pilot wants others not to give up on their dreams – after being told she’d struggle to make it.

Lauren Gott, 25, from Troon is within touching distance of being able to fly passengers for an airline, after she achieved her commercial pilots license.

The former Marr College pupil has been on a huge personal journey over the past two years which has involved gruelling classroom training, all night studying and travelling to the other side of the world to navigate a single engine plane around New Zealand.

Entering a career where only three per cent of the jobs are taken up by females, she has overcome turbulent times to live her dream.

Lauren told the Advertiser: “I’ve always wanted to be a pilot. At school I knew that’s what I wanted to go on and do but I just didn’t think it was possible.

“I was never really an academic person. When I spoke to the careers adviser they asked what subjects I was doing and said you can’t be a pilot.”

After school Lauren headed for college to gain extra qualifications and then to university to study Geology, but her passion for flying grew as she joined up with Royal Air Force reserves to get some additional flying practice. She said: “When I went to quit uni, even my lecturer said being a pilot is really difficult to get into so don’t get your hopes up.

“All these people who were saying no you can’t do it or it’s too difficult. It kind of spurned me on. I told myself I can do this.”

Lauren then applied for a trainee scheme through Virgin Atlantic, but despite passing the interview, failed the assessment.

Determined to carry on, she kept going back to sit the test and passed on the third attempt.

All through the process, Lauren had to overcome many hurdles going through an intensive training course, but her passion to take to the skies kept her going. She added: “I never wanted to give up.

“This is all I’ve wanted to do, even if it makes me cry every day and I’m super stressed, it was just the end goal that I will be an airline pilot at the end of all this.

“All my family know it’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was a wee girl, all the hardships to get through it. It’s not a very big industry for females. I had to be bold at times. They are just so proud of me that I have gone for what I want regardless of how many hurdles that have stood in my way, no matter how many people said you can’t do this, or you’re not good enough. I’ve said no I am good enough.”

There’s so much pressure on young people to do what other people want them to do, they should just follow their heart and do what they want regardless of what people say.

If you really want something and you’re passionate about it then do whatever it takes. Life’s not easy. If you really want something you will make it happen.