AFA-CWA Council 57 - Trish's SWA Blog!

6/15/12 - Graduation Day!

		Posted On: Jun 15, 2012

Live From Dallas - 6/15/12 - Graduation Day!

The whirr of hairdryers must surely have taxed the electrical systems in the hotel this morning as 74 excited “Trannies” prepared for the moment we had come for – graduation. Have two weeks really flown so quickly? With perfect make-up and every hair in place we headed out to start our final day. And though the thunder, lightning and torrents of rain outside might delay the flights at nearby LU...V field and wreak havoc with our carefully coiffed hair, it could not dampen our Spirits! Perhaps the weather is just indicative of our conflicting emotions. We are now officially leaving the company we worked so hard to build but we are joining an amazing company in exchange. We are sad to be leaving the unity of this group of friends who have lived this experience together, yet we are anxious to get home to our families. Change, even good change, is always hard.

We met our base leaders today which eased many fear about what to do on day one. They spent most of the morning with us, answering questions, sharing location of crew rooms and assuring us that the flight attendants at our new bases were eagerly awaiting our arrival.

The training room here is lined by posters, paintings and projects prepared by prior classes (sorry, didn’t intend to use all those “p”s!) to hang on the walls in perpetuity (uh-oh, there goes that “p” again!). Made of all mediums and displaying incredible imagination, there is one representing each graduating class. We knew on day one that we had to come up with something to represent us and it wasn’t long before an idea was born. Spearheaded by Elizabeth and Carrie, our project was one of monumental proportions! They did an outstanding job of capturing the history making aspect of our class, the joining of these two airlines, and the “Wow” factor that we have experienced. I was given the honor of presenting this project after which I shared a Dr. Seuss-like poem that I have composed to show our appreciation for our trainers and assure those of you who follow us that all is well – actually all is “ONE”derful here. That poem is included below.

Our graduation was this afternoon and we were all touched by the number of Southwest AND AirTran flight attendants who attended. There were lots of tears and lots of cheers and we ended the day proudly sporting our new wings. For me, the highlight was having the remaining parts of AT&T – Alison and Travis – there to present my wings. What better way to end my AirTran career than to share it with the two people who have so impacted my life for the past 4 years!

This has been an experience none of us will ever forget. Many headed home right away, others of us chose to stay one more day. You will hear from me one more time – in a few days – when I have had time to spend with family, decompress and sleep. I want to share with you some final thoughts and maybe a little bit of advice.
And now the sun is shining!

On June the 4th
Of 2012
Our inflight transition began.
Excited and scared
Unsure and on edge
... We took a deep breath and we ran.

We could hardly believe
The greeting we got
With LUV, hugs and kisses galore
Bright, smiling faces
We sat in our places
And dared not believe there was more.

We had leaders that rocked
I can’t name them all
For fear I’ll omit any names.
But this I can say
Without all of them
It just wouldn’t have been the same!

Those long days we spent
Sitting in class yet,
Oh, what a great time we had.
A recurrent class
That lasted two weeks
And, yet it wasn’t half bad!

We had long lines a Poolie,
And re-routes (Woo-hoo!)
They shared with us laughter and tears.
We’re family now
They care for us all.
Their LUV helped allay all our fears.

Trailblazers, we
Pioneers all
Even though sometimes we’re loud.
They showed faith in us
In bringing us here
Be assured we’ll make them proud

The friendships we’ve made
The things we have learned,
A reward for the dues we have paid.
We’re thrilled to be here
To put on these wings
To be part of this history made

Thanks for the WOW!
We’re ready now
To fully make Southwest our home.
With the training we’ve had
Preparing our way
Not one of us sad we have come.

It wasn’t all smooth,
Small bumps in the road
But in our hearts it’s all great.
Now we have to leave
Report to our base
The truth is we really can’t wait.

With Warrior Spirits
And Great Servant’s hearts
Our fun-LUVing Spirits abound.
We’ll be your front line,
The face of Southwest,
The moment our feet hit the ground

So, I leave this last thought,
All my “Trannie” friends,
Until you cross over the line:
You are so LUVed!
Cross your arms, JUMP
This Canyon blue water’s just fine!