Today is my practical exam. If all goes well, I walk away with my temporary certificate.

If you're reading this, my bet is you are either preparing for yours, or you are looking back fondly on the day you became a pilot.

The emotional side of accomplishing a checkride shouldn't be downplayed. It's the "E" in IMSAFE for a reason, after all.

I have plenty of questions going through my mind, but I've been encouraged by a few simple facts:

• My instructor wouldn't send me if he didn't think I was ready.
• I feel safe and confident with the airplane I'm flying
• I've prepared for this for quite a while
• I scored well on my written test
• If I was going to fly a cross country, or the checkride profile, on my own, I would feel confident and safe.

All in all, there's a lot of reasons to be confident if you've made it to this point, like I have.

But there's always reason to stay vigilant. You see, a checkride is like any other flight when it comes to physics.

You don't get a pass on emergency awareness. You don't get to defy gravity or weather. You don't get to supersede the rules. More than ever, like every flight after this one, your responsibility as a pilot is to become better. Be more aware, safer, more precise - at the top of your game.

Good luck to you. Don't forget your foggles.