Just two years after graduating from Molloy University with bachelor's degrees in English and Spanish, Dakota Randazzo '24 is pursuing a career she never imagined for herself. The 2024 alumna is now training full time in San Diego to become a commercial airline pilot, recently reaching one of the most significant milestones in her journey by completing her first solo flight. While her path may seem like an unexpected departure from the future she once envisioned, she says it has always been rooted in a love of learning, travel and connecting with others.
As a student at Molloy, Randazzo planned to continue her education and earn a master's degree so she could become a teacher. She hoped to teach English as a Second Language in a Spanish-speaking country, combining her passion for language with her desire to travel. After graduation, she began working and saving for graduate school, but like many recent graduates, she found herself reflecting on what she wanted her future to look like.
"I began contemplating my entire life, as a 21-year-old does," she said with a laugh. "I began considering a career shift or at least exploring other careers I hadn't considered."
Curious about aviation, she signed up for an introductory flight, not knowing it would change the course of her career.
"Pretty much the second I held the yoke and assisted in lifting the plane into the air, I knew this was what I wanted to do," she said.
Within two months, she had packed her bags and moved across the country to begin flight training in San Diego. Although the transition may seem dramatic from the outside, Randazzo says she never felt like she was abandoning one dream for another. Instead, she simply found a new subject to devote herself to.
"In a sense, I'm somewhere new doing something completely different, but it also feels like I've simply shifted from being a student of English and Spanish to a student of flying," she said.
That mindset has helped her navigate the demands of flight training, which she describes as one of the most rewarding and humbling experiences of her life. While many people picture aspiring pilots spending most of their time in the cockpit, she says the reality is very different. Learning to fly requires hours of studying topics such as aerodynamics, weather, aircraft systems and federal regulations. She estimates that about 20 percent of flight training involves flying, while the remaining 80 percent is spent preparing on the ground.
"There is no one there to make sure you've done your studying or your homework," she said. "It falls on you to take it seriously."
The rigorous pace has challenged her in ways she never expected, but it has also helped her discover strengths she didn't know she had.
"I think flight training has taught me humility most of all," she said. "The ability to take a failure, learn from it, and create a success without feeling inadequate is a skill that I didn't know I possessed before flight training. It taught me that failure doesn't mean inadequacy and that I am capable of so much more than I'd ever thought."
Her hard work culminated in one of the most memorable moments of her training when she completed her first solo flight. After passing a two-hour exam covering subjects such as aerodynamics, weather, regulations and engine components, she climbed into the cockpit alone for the first time.
"The very first thing I remembered was my instructor leaving the plane and just the silence in the cockpit," she recalled. "As I taxied up to the runway and was told I was cleared for takeoff, I remember feeling my heart beating out of my chest."
Any nerves quickly disappeared once the aircraft left the ground.
"Every single one of those worries melted away the second I hit full throttle and lifted my plane into the air," she said. "It truly felt like a breath of fresh air, an audible reassurance, 'I can do this.'"
While her academic background and career path may seem unrelated at first glance, Randazzo has found meaningful connections between the two. Her original goal of teaching English abroad and her current goal of becoming a pilot are both driven by a desire to travel, experience different cultures and build relationships with people around the world. She has also discovered that the study habits she developed while learning Spanish continue to serve her in aviation.
"Radio calls to air traffic control are, in a sense, a new language," she said. "I find myself using a lot of the study skills from learning Spanish at Molloy when studying this new 'language' of aviation."
Looking back on her time at Molloy, Randazzo says one of the greatest lessons she carried with her was the importance of community. She found that sense of belonging among classmates who shared her passion for language and learning, and she has found it again among fellow student pilots working toward a common goal.
"The sense of community and being surrounded by people who share your interests is what I took away from Molloy," she said. "There are plenty of professions where it's easy to lose that sense of community and passion, but I'm happy to have found exactly that in aviation."
As she continues working toward her pilot's license and ultimately a career in commercial aviation, Randazzo is grateful for the foundation Molloy provided and excited for what lies ahead. Although the destination she envisioned as a student changed, the curiosity, determination and willingness to embrace new opportunities that shaped her time at Molloy continue to guide her as she reaches new heights.
