The next program I want to talk about is called Washington Aerospace Scholars.
While attending Auburn Senior High School, I frequently talked with a wonderful career counselor by the name of Jon Morrow. He was retired Air Force and I loved hearing about his experiences in the service. I thought about joining the air force and pursuing my education that way.
One day, he came across a program called Washington Aerospace Scholars that got students interested in STEM programs and strongly encouraged me to apply. He helped me through the application process and I was accepted to the online portion of the program.
The program was very extensive. All students accepted into WAS were expected to read the weekly materials on space exploration, Mars history and learn about rover and orbiter missions. Every two weeks, students were to submit an essay on an assigned topic, complete a quiz on the reading material, and work through a challenging math problem involving space topics. The final project consisted of researching a new topic on space exploration and writing an essay and designing a graphic. My final project was on Solar Sailing, and I really enjoyed researching the topic! It gave me a greater understanding of the concepts of space and propulsion. I would have to say the final project was my favorite part of the online WAS experience! The online portion of WAS was very challenging to do on top of taking two AP classes at my high school, being a full time student at the local community college, playing basketball for my high school team, and working nights. But I really wanted to make the online experience worthwhile by being accepted to the WAS Summer Residency. Out of about 400 students that took part in the online WAS program, 140 students were selected for the summer residency. Luckily I was one of them!
At the summer residency, we designed Mars rovers, built small rockets, partook in a payload lofting challenge and even did a lander challenge (egg drop). The engineering challenges were my favorite part of the residency! Although, I must say that the real world engineering experience proved to be very rewarding. We were introduced to the world of an engineer and had a budget, time limit, and many other constraints that we had to work around while doing our engineering challenges. I would say it is good to learn early what the engineering field will be like and what to expect before you spend years educating yourself for it!
The residency largely focused on all 40 students working together to design a manned mission to Mars. There were four teams, Getting There, Living There, Working There, and the Integration Team. Together the four teams chose how many astronauts would go to Mars and for what period of time. Then they spent hours each day getting all the facts together and integrating this mission into a complete and viable mission to get us to Mars. We even designed our own spacesuits and rovers for the mission!
At the end of the residency, we had accomplished SO much! It's hard to believe that so much can be done in only a week! On top of doing everything I outlined above, we also toured some big local aviation/aerospace related companies, including the Everett Boeing Facility! We partook in a 'Mission' in the Museum of Flight where museum visitors could view us and get a sense for what communication between the Shuttle and Mission Control is like. We heard from Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, the curator for the Museum of Flight and a NASA Astronaut, and briefings from scientists and engineers. To conclude our residency, we presented the final Mission to Mars at a closing banquet with many distinguished guests, such as Dr. Bonnie Dunbar, Rusty Schweickart, and our families!
What a rewarding experience, I really do recommend that anyone who has a child interested in the sciences pass the word on. This program taught me so much about engineering and space and I walked away knowing that I would pursue Aerospace Engineering. It also opened SO many doors for me, AND looks great on a resume!
You can find more information about Washington Aerospace Scholars on their website:
http://www.museumofflight.org/washingtonaerospacescholars
Thanks for reading!
