The book Sully: My Search for What Really Matters shares the life story of Captain “Sully” Sullenberger. Chesley B. Sullenberger was raised by his mother and father on the outskirts of Denison, Texas. His mother instilled in him an appreciation for learning, and his father taught him the value of working hard by involving the whole family in continual home improvement projects. He also learned to put family first from his father. His dad would spontaneously take days off work and drive the family to Dallas, Texas to get dinner and see a movie.
Sullenberger knew he wanted to be a pilot by age five. He doggedly started toward that goal by taking flying lessons from his neighbor Mr. Cook. He got his private pilot certificate at age seventeen, on October 28, 1968. He was then given a merit based congressional appointment to the Air Force Academy in 1969. When he graduated, in 1973, he was named “Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship”. He went on to earn his Master of Science degree in industrial psychology from Purdue University. Then he went to Undergraduate …show more content…
It brings to light the very different social stigmas there were about mental illness in the 1930s. “The fact that being depressed could be a medical issue didn’t occur to a lot of people. And so my father never got help, and just tried to cope” (60-61). Much later, after a very painful gallbladder surgery, his father committed suicide (289-290). After hearing about this experience, I am very grateful that I live an era where people fully understand the impact mental illness can have on a person and that there is counselling and medical help available for those who need it. Sullenberger was also profoundly affected by his father’s death, and it changed his world view. He said that he learned from his father’s suicide to value life highly