Raymonda Azrelyant Yeh was drawn to a full-time position at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, after spending a summer interning in Code 159, part of the accounting department.
While working with closing agreements and cleaning out Goddard’s system financially, she found a place where she could combine her passion for accounting with an interest in science.
“My strength was always in math science and then during college, there was a fundraising competition that strengthened my interest in accounting,” Yeh said. “That’s when I knew what I wanted to do.”
Her summer at Goddard was the fourth internship she had in college, and she said the position showed her how well she liked being at the center.
“I had an internship in 2005 and when a position opened up, I applied for a permanent position,” she said. “That’s how I started working at Goddard and I feel there’s a perfect match here for me.”
As a senior accountant, Yeh said she’s able to support Goddard by keeping financial operations running smoothly.
“My contribution is persistence and commitment and loyalty,” she said. “My commitment is to finish a project to the end and my loyalty helps me make sure everything’s in balance and the books are clean.”
Without the accounting department, Yeh said Goddard could not function properly to fulfill its science mission.
“If there were no accounting, there would be no work,” she said. “Without us, how would the scientists know what money they had to develop new projects or how to pay for labor and work being done?”
Yeh is not always looking at financial records during her time at Goddard, however. Her favorite memory at the center is of a community outreach project to serve homeless people in the area.
“I would say my best experience was when I was involved with a project to try to help the homeless with miscellaneous tasks, from helping them manage money to finding places to stay,” she said. “There were six of us working and in one semester, we were very successful in helping.”
Yeh is committed to service both at Goddard and elsewhere. She’s worked as an advocate for the deaf community, including as Miss Deaf New Jersey in 2005-07. In 2013, she cycled with the U.S. Deaflympics team in Bulgaria.
“The games gave me the opportunity to meet people from different countries who have the same interests as me,” she said. “Oh wow! That was just fantastic.”
Yeh is still cycling, and cutting back on distractions, with her eye on the 2017 Deaflympic team.
“I’ve always been involved in different organizations but for the last two years, I’ve been focusing on family and cycling and getting prepared for the Deaflympics,” she said.
She will not find out if she’s on the 2017 team until next year, and in the meantime, she cycles between 40 and 100 miles a week to stay fit. Beyond cycling, Yeh uses her free time to stay involved with her family.
“I’ve got three kids, so it’s a lot of commitment to their activities,” she said. “I’m involved in a lot of organizations, but they’re taking a backseat to my family.”
By Kathryn M. Mersmann
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
