Amelia Earhart

Hello! My name is Amelia. When I was a little girl, long before I ever flew a plane, I loved adventures. My sister Muriel and I would explore our neighborhood, climb trees, and even build our own roller coaster in the backyard! One day in 1908, I saw an airplane for the first time at a fair. It looked like a rickety thing made of wire and wood, but a little seed of an idea was planted in my mind: what if I could fly?

Years later, in 1920, I finally got to ride in an airplane. As we lifted off the ground and soared into the sky, I knew right then and there that I had to become a pilot. I worked all sorts of jobs to save up money for flying lessons. Soon, I bought my very own plane! It was a bright yellow, two-seater biplane, and I nicknamed it 'The Canary.' I spent every moment I could in the air, practicing and learning. In 1928, I was asked to be the first woman to fly across the big Atlantic Ocean. I was only a passenger on that trip, but it made me famous! Still, I knew I wanted to do it all by myself.

And just a few years later, in 1932, I did! I flew my little red plane all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, just me and the wide-open sky. It was a long, cold, and scary flight, but when I landed safely on the other side, I had proven that a woman could do anything a man could do. After that, I wanted an even bigger adventure. I decided I would be the first woman to fly all the way around the world. I got a brand-new silver plane, a Lockheed Electra, and with my friend and navigator, Fred Noonan, we set off on the biggest trip of my life in 1937.

We flew for thousands and thousands of miles, seeing amazing sights from above. We were on the last part of our journey, flying over the vast Pacific Ocean, when my plane and I disappeared. No one knows for sure what happened to us, and it became a great mystery. But please don’t be sad. I lived a life full of adventure and did exactly what I dreamed of doing. I hope my story inspires you to be brave, to follow your own dreams, and to soar as high as you can, no matter what they are.