At just 19, Maitri Patel has achieved something incredible—she’s officially India’s youngest female commercial pilot. After completing her pilot training in the United States, she turned her childhood dream into reality, despite facing a lot of challenges along the way.

Maitri comes from Surat, Gujarat. Her dad, Kantilal Patel, is a farmer and also works in the health department of the Surat Municipal Corporation, while her mom works there too. To help Maitri achieve her dream, her dad made some huge sacrifices, like enrolling her in a private school and even selling part of their family land to cover the costs of her training.