Undergraduate / Dad + "Charlie Golf" - MIT Prompts - World, Significant challenge [4]

Hey Everyone,
I wrote these two essays to submit them to MIT.
Any comment is welcome, be it grammar, ideas or style-related.

Thanks in advance :)

-Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, clubs, school, community, city, or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?

"I want to be an engineer. "
"You'll be an executive. 3 years in a French Grande Ecole, 2 years in a business school, and you can kiss goodbye your financial problems."

"But I want to be an engineer."
"You're lazy."
I don't know where Dad got this idea that aspiring to be an engineer is being lazy. I guess he has heard of computer programmers.

My father is the only person who has never ceased to believe in me. Even when my teachers didn't think I had talent, or when my friends laughed at me for my unorthodox ideas. What he has in mind for my future and how I picture my life do not meet, though.

As a great life mentor, Dad has taught me that ambition is free of charge, so it's okay to have too much of it.

"Fish swim against the current too, you know, and sometimes they reach where they want to be."
I cannot imagine myself disappointing him, after all the sacrifices he had to make so I could get the best of everything. But I know that he'll be proud of me if I draw my own path instead of following the one he has sketched for me since I was a 1st grader, dreaming to become a fiery astronaut, much like the Apollo 11 team, whose tales he told me by way of bedtime stories.

-Tell us about the most significant challenge you've faced or something important that didn't go according to plan. How did you manage the situation?

« Charlie Golf to Tower, I have a student ready for solo »
I beg your pardon? Is my instructor going to let me fly the plane alone, after a mere 14 hours of flight training? I don't know if I should scream of happiness, or crumble of anxiety.

"Charlie Golf, hold short of runway 03, we have a VIP ready for departure"
My heart is pounding, I feel damp. It's warm. I guess it's perfectly normal for a summer morning.
I recall my first flight. I had to step out of my comfort zone, try something new, and no matter the outcome, stick to it. I cannot imagine what my life would be like if I hadn't swallowed my eternal fear of heights that day, and although every atom in me told me not to, installed myself in the cockpit, ready for the ride of a lifetime. And now I'm going to have to do it again, alone. What if I'm not as good as I thought? This is not the best time for these thoughts to cross my mind. I can't back down, not after all that I have been through. I can do this.

"Charlie Golf cleared for takeoff, report downwind."
"Charlie Golf cleared for takeoff, will report downwind."
Here it goes, full power, 55 knots, lift off...