It was the summer of 2019, and Drew and I were sitting in a movie theater watching the previews for Ford vs. Ferrari when I saw the trailer for Top Gun Maverick for the first time. Even though it was just a few scenes set to the iconic Top Gun anthem, I immediately got goosebumps. To say I am a fan girl of Top Gun would be a huge understatement.

When Top Gun was released I was only 10 years old. My parents never took me to see movies as a kid, so as a result I never saw it in the theater. When I did finally watch it on VHS later that year, it had a significant impact on me. Even though I know at that age, my ability to appreciate all the movie had to offer was limited, I still loved everything about it. I mostly connected to the movie’s military setting and the aerial combat scenes because my dad was a fighter pilot— Air Force, though, not Navy, as he’d like to correct me.