First, let's define student mode. Regardless of age, background, or finances, a new-to-aviation student is a sponge, ready to absorb all available information. The best students come to the endeavor mentally naked. Their attitude is, "I know nothing, yet I want to know everything. Teach me."
Two factors can make it difficult for people to get into student mode. The first is the self-image that they bring to flying from the outside world, and the second is the self-confidence that comes with experience.
Self-image can be a factor for people who are accustomed to being in control of social and professional situations. It's not easy for such people to give up control by strapping into a cramped cockpit and taking instructions from a virtual stranger who earns no more than a high-end fast-food worker. This is never a problem with a 20-year-old primary student. It's quite often a problem, however, with a 40-year-old primary student.
Pilots with many hours of flying experience can find it equally difficult to get into student mode. These pilots can't help comparing what they already know with what they are being told. This puts a fine filter over their ability to absorb information. They subconsciously reject ideas that are unfamiliar or contradict what they already know.
So what makes an ideal student, and how can you become one? Ideal students never get completely out of student mode. From the first day that they walk into a flight school to the day that someone nails them in a pine box, they are actively trying to learn. They realize that they don't know everything, and they want to fill in the gaps in their knowledge.
Some of the world's very best pilots are always in student mode. They wear confidence like a jacket over self-imposed feelings of doubt. While they are capable of flying almost anything, they approach each airplane and each situation as if it is something completely new. They treat every situation as a challenge and prepare accordingly, not a bad way to guarantee survival.
If there is a trick to staying in student mode, it is to view the world of aviation as a huge ocean of knowledge and experiences. In the beginning, you paddle around in the surf. Then you start diving in the shallows. It's only after you've taken your first deep dive that you begin to understand the immensity of the venture. That's when you realize that you can't possibly know and understand everything. You may never learn it all, but you'll have a wonderful time trying.
To keep yourself in student mode, you should continually seek new experiences. Consider earning a tailwheel endorsement or seaplane rating. Take an aerobatic lesson. In other words, one way to remain a student is to continually put yourself into situations in which you actually are a student. Unfortunately, lack of time and money prevents many pilots from earning new certificates and ratings. But that shouldn't keep you from putting yourself in student mode. Student mode is a state of mind, not a physical activity. It's about being curious, identifying the things that you don't understand and trying to learn more.
If you aren't already in student mode, it's not too late to change the way you approach the aviation portion of your life. Next time you float right past your intended landing point, don't just continue on your way. Go around and try it again. If you overhear some pilots discussing a concept you don't understand, jump into the conversation and ask questions.
Being a perpetual student means not only asking questions, but looking for the answers. It means being aware of gaps in your understanding and doing something about it. It means that a lack of understanding is like an itch that won't go away until you have answers. Once you develop the habit of scratching those itches, you will be the ideal student.
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