Anna Yilmaz joined ERAU women’s soccer as the team manager in the fall of 2011, but she is not your typical team manager. Yilmaz is a non-traditional student working towards her second Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Science.
A native of Arizona, Yilmaz began her academic career at Northern Arizona University as a music performance major playing the saxophone. The tragedy of 9/11 inspired her to serve in United States Military and in 2002, she joined the Army where she pent six years of active duty as a helicopter mechanic and two years in the reserves as a Psychological Operations Specialist.
Yilmaz was deployed three times in her military career, spending 13 months in Iraq, 12 months in Afghanistan and then another 15 months in Iraq.
While in the military, Yilmaz earned a bachelors degree in Technical Management from ERAU’s Worldwide campus in 2010. She began her second degree in Aeronautical Science in the fall of 2010 and now holds her Commercial pilot’s license. She will complete her Aeronautical Science degree in the spring after which time she hope to begin work as a flight instructor at Embry-Riddle.
“I love the sport of soccer,” Yilmaz stated. “I played varsity in high school and then played on various club teams after that. I’m glad to support the Embry-Riddle women’s soccer team.”
