Teen pilot Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa’s high school aspirations soar

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published in the August 2023 issue of The Picayune Magazine, before Mitchell-Ochoa started her freshman year of high school.)

High school freshman Amaris Mitchell-Ochoa has high hopes for the next four years and beyond. The 14-year-old plans to earn her private pilot license certification before she graduates from Marble Falls High School, where she will be a member of the marching and jazz bands, play on the volleyball and tennis teams, and take honors classes. For an elective, she opted for Spanish. No pasa nada.

Mitchell-Ochoa certainly thinks it’s no problem. She’s been following her passions most of her life, flying her first plane when she was 11 years old. As this story was being written, she was finishing her third annual stint atthe weeklongPreFlight Aviation Camp in Colorado. Next year, she plans to return as a junior camp counselor.

When she stepped off the Cessna 172 she flew over the Colorado mountains in this year’s Discovery Flight, an end-of-camp tradition, she called this reporter, the excitement audible in her voice.

“It was pretty bumpy because it was pretty windy,” she said. “We did some steep turns. We got video of us doing a 360 (-degree turn) over some hills.” 

She also got to take off and land. The landing made her a little nervous. 

“I don’t get to land much,” she said. “It was really pretty up there. Way different than Texas. The mountains are so beautiful.” 

Being able to see the world from above is what inspires her to fly, Mitchell-Ochoa said. 

“It’s just feels really nice being up there,” she said.

“Up there” means a lot of time on the ground learning and earning those wings. As a Highland Lakes Squadron of the Commemorative Air Force cadet, Mitchell-Ochoa spent a recent hot summer Saturday with her fellow squadron members scrubbing down the Texas Zephyr with Extreme Simple Green cleaner for aircraft in preparation for the plane’s big debut later this year.

“It’s a lot bigger than a car,” Mitchell-Ochoa said of the World War II-era C-47 transport plane, the newest craft in the local CAF’s collection. “We had to hose it down to get the dust off, then scrub with soap, washcloths, and towels.” 

Adults used ladders for topside spit-and-shine, while the young cadets scrubbed the wings and the underbody. 

Aptly called ground school, earthbound learning also covers how to run through a preflight checklist, which is necessary before any plane leaves the ground. 

“We have to make sure the plane will fly smoothly,” Mitchell-Ochoa said. “You have to do fuel checks on both sides, the left and right fuel tanks, the propellers. You check the wings and the tires to make sure they’re good to taxi.” 

Land-based learning covers navigation, map reading, and measuring the weight and balance of a plane and its cargo so it lifts properly. It’s a well-grounded education. 

The oldest in a blended family of three much younger siblings, Mitchell-Ochoa gives props to her mom, Maryum Mitchell, for supporting her varied interests, especially flying.

“I’ve always had so many opportunities because of her,” Mitchell-Ochoa said about her mother, who is director of community engagement at the Community Resource Centers of Texas Inc. in Marble Falls. “And I really started adding more when I hit middle school.” 

Which is also when her love of animals took off and became a passion for puppies.

“Something just snapped, and I was obsessed with dogs and I really wanted one,” she said. 

She memorized lists of dog types and traits before the family ended up with a German shepherd/blue heeler mix named Bleu. 

“He’s the best dog ever,” Mitchell-Ochoa said. “The perfect family dog.”

She is also raising a duck adopted from her middle school science class’s incubation project. It’s 2 months old and lives in a swimming pool in her backyard near Johnson Park in Marble Falls. She feeds it crickets and takes it for walks. 

“I try not to limit my kids,” Maryum Mitchell said. “Amaris has always been a very gifted child. When she came to me about her interest in flying, I said, ‘OK, let’s see what’s out there.’” 

Research led her to flight schools in San Antonio and Colorado, in which she immediately enrolled her daughter.  

As a result, Mitchell-Ochoa has added commercial pilot to a list of possible career paths, but like her life, she is open to other options. At the top of the list is corporate lawyer. She has an eye on college and law school somewhere north “where it’s cooler.” Air Force or Navy pilot is something else that interests her. 

The family moved to Marble Falls three years ago from Austin. Mitchell-Ochoa’s father, who is retired from the Army, lives in Burnet with her 1-year-old half-sister. She has two other half-sisters at home: Calindra Dunn, 8, and Emerlyn Dunn, 6. 

As for high school, Mitchell-Ochoa is already building an impressive résumè for college applications. She plays four instruments but concentrates on clarinet and alto saxophone in the high school band. Her sports radar is homed in on tennis with hopes of a college scholarship. She won first in district in doubles in the eighth grade. 

Along with music and sports, she is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She is also on the UIL Editorial Writing team. She can knit, crochet, fish, hunt (she owns a crossbow and a hunting rifle or two), and loves to travel. She’s been to eight states so far, looking to add New York as a ninth soon. She has her CAF wings and a plan for earning the flight hours needed to get a pilot’s license when she turns 16. 

After a fairly busy summer, the work really took off when the budding young pilot returned to Marble Falls at the end of July to begin band camp and volleyball tryouts at the high school. 

“And I’m going to be playing as much tennis as I can,” she said of the last few weeks before school starts Aug. 17. “My main goal is to be really successful in life. I know I have so many different options, but whatever I pick when I get older, for sure, I want to be a success.”

She will have her mother’s support all the way.

“I want my daughters to change the world,” Maryum Mitchell said. “I have always talked to them about being a servant and trying to change the world.” 

“Whatever I do in the future, that will be part of it,” Mitchell-Ochoa said. 

suzanne@thepicayune.com