'Wildly Out Of Your Comfort Zone': Unlikely Colorado Airport Ramp Agent Finds Purpose
EAGLE, Colo. (CBS4) - When Megan Collom's parents told her she needed to find a job over winter break, the college sophomore decided to look nearby at the Vail Valley Jet Center. There was an open position as a ramp concierge. Megan assumed it would be your standard concierge position.
"I assumed that that meant that I was just inside at a desk saying hello to people and… I was quite wrong," she said.
She showed up to her interview dressed in business attire and a man, soaking wet from rain, informed her the job was a ramp agent gig, and she'd be mostly running around outside.
"Running around, throwing bags," she said. "If I knew exactly what this job entailed, I don't think I ever would've applied," she laughed, mostly joking.
Collom still needed a job, and while the planes on the ramp towered over her 5 foot, 3 inch stature, she discovered she was pretty good at it.
Collom has been holding her own this winter, not only lifting heavy bags, but parking planes and, on busy days, has logged more than 20 miles on her feet.
"It's intimidating sometimes. Especially when we have bigger aircraft coming in, and I'm trying to lift bags over my head," she said. "It strikes up conversations with different customers and pilots when they notice that I'm pretty small, but I'm running around out here."
She's learning a lot on the job as well. Collom can identify every plane on tarmac, what kind of fuel they take and someday hopes to fly her own.
"I'd probably start in something like a Cessna," she said, adding she'd like to wind up in something larger, like a Gulf Stream or a Global.
Collom, who is studying English and biblical studies at Cedarville University in Ohio, says she's not sure the job will change her current trajectory, but it has certainly had an influence.
Her advice to others hoping to find a job during the pandemic, if you can't find a job you want, "just find something wildly out of your comfort zone," she said.
