T-108 Days Until Liftoff

I've never done a blog before.  I've never really seen the point.  I don't have much interest in reading the thoughts that were going on in my head days, and weeks, and months ago so I don't really see why anyone else would. But I am about to embark on an absolutely incredible, once-in-a-lifetime, kind of journey and I want to document it somehow.  So here goes...

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Harvard of the Skies, has been my dream school since I was thirteen years old.  My science teacher, Mr. Astin, was teaching my class about space science and the Astronaut program and I could not stop imagining myself as an astronaut.  That night, my eighth grade self went home and spent hours and hours on the NASA website learning everything about what makes a good Astronaut candidate.

• I needed to earn some kind of engineering or math degree

-AND-

• I needed to have a few years of experience under my belt (or)
• I needed 1,000 flight hours (later on I realized you could choose one or the other)

-AND-

• I needed to have good eye-sight - CHECK

-AND-

• I needed to be tall  - CHECK

I had already fulfilled two out of the five requirements and I was only 13 so I was on the right track. The next day I asked my teacher about what college I should go to if I wanted to become an Astronaut and he told me about Embry-Riddle. So that night I went home and looked up Embry-Riddle and my mind was set. It had the BEST Aerospace Engineering program in the country, it had a top-notch flight program, AND it graduated SIX Astronauts – there was no way I would go to any other school in a million years. For the rest of that year, I would stay after school some days just so I could look at the universe with his Starry Night program and I worked my butt off for the rest of middle school and high school, made straight As, and applied to two universities: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Florida Institute of Technology. Even though I was confident I'd get in, I didn't want to risk NOT going anywhere with a good Aerospace Engineering program.

On November 17, 2009 I checked my Application Status on Ernie and saw that I was accepted at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  My dream was coming true.

A few months later, I was finally on my way to Embry-Riddle as an Aerospace Engineering major. My dream wasn't just coming true, I was living it. However, three semesters into the engineering program I finally accepted that engineering was not for me. I didn't know what I was going to do until I found the Human Factors and Systems Department. I talked to some of the faculty and learned what Human Factors was all about and I knew what I was going to do again.

Ever since I changed my major I have absolutely loved every single thing about school. The degree is applicable to so many fields, the classes are challenging and interesting, and the career possibilities are endless. With my degree I get to learn about the physiological and cognitive aspects of people, how to enhance designs, how to conduct research, and how to optimize space travel!  What could be better than that!?  Oh right, nothing!

And this Spring semester has done nothing but reaffirm that I made the right decision in changing my major. On February 15, 2013 I submitted my first-ever internship application. The program provided the opportunity to a select group of students from across the country to participate in the NASA Pathways Intern Employment Program at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. On March 28, I had my first-ever phone interview. And on April 19, 2013 I received the phone call of a lifetime.

I GOT THE INTERNSHIP I APPLIED FOR!

My dream for the past eight years has been to work for NASA. If I am going to be a NASA Astronaut, what could be a better way to gain work experience than working for the company I want to gain work experience to work for? Exactly.

That day is one of the absolute happiest days of my life and I cannot wait to see where this opportunity leads!  I am so thankful to my parents and my professors for guiding me in the right direction throughout my life and college career, and I will do everything I can to make them proud. All of my hard work is beginning to pay off and I am truly so blessed to have had these opportunities provided to me. And as long as I keep working my hardest and keep my faith in God I know that I will be able to accomplish anything I put my mind and heart into.

"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:31