Episode 22: Career Exploration Project
07.18.07
: Julia Gandara and Shannon Harrison, Career Exploration Project interns
(0:00) Intro
(0:19) Overview of NASA's Career Exploration Project and introduction of interviews with project interns. Recent high school graduates Shannon Harrison and Julia Gandara describe their experiences as NASA Career Exploration Project interns.
Career Exploration Project →
Texas Space Grant Consortium Design Challenge →
NASA Johnson Space Center Education Office
(0:57) Interview with Shannon Harrison.
(5:08) Interview with Julia Gandara.
(12:11)
MARS DAY! 2007 → is Friday, July 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
(13:45) End
Send your comments or questions to:
educationpodcast@nasa.gov
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Transcript
Deana Nunley: This is NASA Student Opportunities -- a podcast connecting high school and college students with learning opportunities inside America's space agency.
Episode 22. July 18, 2007. I'm Deana Nunley.
NASA's Career Exploration Project allows students to work part-time at Johnson Space Center during their senior year in high school and the summer following graduation. Students learn valuable technical and office skills while being exposed to positive role models and work ethics. And they earn money for their work during the one-year assignment at the NASA center in Houston.
Today, we're talking with a couple of students who are involved with the Career Exploration Project. Shannon Harrison graduated from Dickinson High School in Dickinson, Texas, in May and plans to begin coursework this fall toward an electrical engineering degree at the University of Houston.
[Music]
How did you get involved with NASA?
Shannon Harrison: Well, my dad has worked as a contractor out here for 24 years, and so I've grown up around it. I had some friends who were involved in the co-op program in years before, and so that's how I made the connection.
Deana: Have you enjoyed participating in the Career Exploration Project?
Shannon: Very much. I've learned a lot of things, both about the professional world and just kind of growing myself. I'm out here in the working environment with adults, so I learn a lot of things and I really enjoy it.
Deana: What are some of the highlights of your experience with NASA?
Shannon: Meeting lots of people. I work in the [International] Space Station program office, and we have people that come in from Russia, Japan and all over. So it's really neat to get to see people of different cultures coming here, and getting to meet and interact with them. And also, this summer, I am going to get to work in space station Mission Control. I haven't started yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
Deana: What will your role be?
Shannon: I'll actually get to do some technical engineering work. I'm not exactly sure because we haven't finalized everything yet. But I've been told that I'll get to actually do some engineering work, some hands-on stuff.
Deana: I understand that you were one of five students selected to attend the Texas Space Grant Consortium Design Challenge. What were your impressions of that event?
Shannon: I really enjoyed it. It felt like a more sophisticated version of science fair that we have at high school. They would come up and give their presentations. I was amazed at how the way they presented makes such a difference. There were topics that I wasn't necessarily very interested in, but their presentation was so good that it kept my attention. It was really nice to see. I guess I didn't realize how much the presentation makes or breaks you, but watching that really showed it. And they had some really neat experiments. One of the groups of electrical engineers had a Mars rover, and they actually let us play with that -- that was fun.
Deana: Was that just a smaller-scale version of the rover?
Shannon: Right. It was an unmanned version that just goes out and explores. It's got little cameras on it. They talked about how they were developing sensors to detect rocks and things so that it wouldn't bump into anything, and it could navigate itself.
Deana: Do you think your observation of the design challenge will influence your college or career path?
Shannon: I think that it gave me a better insight as to what I can do in college in the field that I'm going into. And I definitely think it's something that I'd like to get involved in when I'm in college, if I can get a group together. But I was really impressed with it and I had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. And it was kind of neat to get to see because those students were college seniors. As a high school senior, I'm looking at it, going, "These are things that could actually become real at NASA. So those are things I potentially could be working on when I'm employed at NASA." So that was neat.
Deana: Is it your plan to become a full-time NASA employee?
Shannon: Yes.
Deana: Do you plan on pursuing other NASA learning opportunities?
Shannon: I take advantage of everything that they give me. I really enjoy how they give you so many opportunities out here to learn so many things. And I really appreciate that because, as a young student, you don't really know what exactly you want to do, so they give you so many opportunities to let you see a little bit of everything. I really enjoy it. I want to come out in the co-op program and whatever, so that I can have more experiences and see more of NASA and get a better feel for it. That way, when I come out as a full-time employee, I'll know where it is I want to go.
Deana: Shannon Harrison, an intern at Johnson Space Center. Julia Gandara is also working this summer as a Career Exploration Project intern. She graduated recently from Clear Brook High School in Friendswood, Texas, and plans to major in biomedical engineering at the University of Texas in Austin.
Julia, describe your experience with the Career Exploration Project.
Julia Gandara: I've gotten to take a lot of tours. And I learn so much here every day, sometimes more than I would learn at school. Any time I have any questions, anybody is always willing to help me. I've just found it to be a really educational opportunity. I've actually gotten to work in the labs a lot. I'm just surprised. It's kind of a family environment here, and everybody is willing to help everyone else. And it's just been a great experience for me, because everybody is dedicated to everyone else's success.
At first, when I got here, I understood that we were going to be helping the administrative officers out -- secretarial work. I knew I'd have to make a lot of copies and do filing, but it ended up being a lot more than that. In my first week I told them, "I really am interested in engineering and I want to learn as much as I can." So a lot of the engineers started working with me. And I actually got kind of a technical job in my first week. I got to test out peristaltic pumps, testing the flow rates. And I got to work in the water lab and meet everybody in there. And from that day on, I've gotten so many fantastic jobs working in here. I'm currently working on a photo project. I got the NASA photographers to come out, and we're doing these amazing photo shoots. They take probably about four hours, just for one shot.
Deana: Tell us a little bit more about the photo shoots. What kinds of objects are you taking photos of?
Julia: Well, recently, I've been shooting all of our facilities. We have a lot of great labs here, and we're doing a lot of cool work that I don't think a lot of people know about. I've done probably seven photo shoots. But each time, it takes probably an hour to set up each photo shoot, because we have to get the lights and the flashes working and everything. And we also do cool lighting. Sometimes, we'll use purple lights or red lights, but we always make sure the lighting looks good so that you can really focus the photo to what the subject of it is. This is going to be used for a project I'm working on in my building, but it's also being used at the directorate level. And we're also taking video for a Web site. It's been really fun.
Deana: What are some of your favorite things about your NASA experience?
Julia: Definitely, working with the engineers has been some of my favorite work here. They're all really, really, really smart. They've helped me in school. They've just helped me to learn about anything. Usually, if I start working on a project for them, they'll lay out everything for me. They'll let me know the background and any kind of chemistry that they use. So, I've actually learned a lot of the applications of things that I've learned in chemistry and physics [classes]. I've learned how all of that actually fits together and how we use it in the real world. And that's helped me in school to put everything into perspective. It's also just helped me to learn how to do my word problems, too, and the applications.
Deana: You were involved with the Career Exploration Project at the same time that you were taking classes in high school -- is that correct?
Julia: Yes. I would go to school a half-day, and then I'd come here at 1 [p.m.], from 1 to 5. We started our program in September, so it's almost a whole-year program, which is great.
Deana: And you were one of five students selected to attend the Texas Space Grant Consortium Design Challenge, right?
Julia: Yes.
Deana: Did that make an impression on you?
Julia: Oh, yeah. I loved it. It was crazy how much you learn in four years. I got to talk to a lot of the people who presented. I was like, "Do you think you'd be able to do this if you were a senior in high school?" They were like, "No." So it was really cool to see what kind of stuff I might be able to do in a few years. Maybe I'll be in it my senior year.
Deana: So the four years you're referring to, you're talking about the four years of college education.
Julia: Yes.
Deana: And just how much more they had learned than what you feel like you know coming out of high school.
Julia: Yes. It's a big difference, but I'm looking forward to it.
Deana: Can I get you to describe the day at the design challenge and what you observed?
Julia: I didn't know what to expect. I knew that they were doing a bunch of different presentations, but I thought that it was going to be a little bit like a science fair because I saw all the boards up. They had the tri-fold boards up there. But they actually had to do that -- they had to do a video, they had to do a PowerPoint and a presentation -- in front of all of us. Which I thought was really good, because a lot of people don't realize that, sometimes, in engineering, you have to do presentations, too. Those skills are really important as well. We got to watch the groups present. And then they let us ask questions, too. Which I thought was really cool, because then we got to see how they would answer the questions.
I work in Crew and Thermal Systems Division, and two people who work in my building were mentors for two of the groups. So, I actually knew a little bit more than the other students about some of the projects. But we got to listen to them present their projects and do the questions. And then we got to look at their boards to get a little bit more information. The presentations were followed by the awards. And a lot of us agreed with who won the awards. We agreed that they were pretty fair.
Deana: Is the design challenge influencing your college or career plans?
Julia: Actually, it really helped, because there were two groups from the University of Texas there, and, aside from asking them all the technical questions, I also got to ask them about the university environment. Actually, the head of biomedical engineering -- the dean -- was there, too. So I got to ask them a lot of important questions, and it kind of solidified my decision to go to UT.
Deana: What advice would you offer high school students who want to get involved with NASA?
Julia: I would say the most important thing is just to be willing to learn. The thing that's made my experience so great is that I told everyone, "I want to learn everything." Just get involved and let them know that you're willing to do any kind of work [and that] you just want to help out. I think just having a good attitude and being able to pick up on things quickly is really important. Just wanting to learn, I think that's the most important thing.
Deana: The Career Exploration Project is also open to university or community college students in the Houston area. You can find out more about that and the Texas Space Grant Consortium Design Challenge by following links in this week's show notes. Go to
www.nasa.gov/podcast, and click on the NASA Student Opportunities podcast.
[Music]
The Vision for Space Exploration calls for humans to return to the moon and move ahead to Mars and beyond, and NASA is actively researching the mysterious Red Planet with robotic rovers and orbiting spacecraft. Scientists involved in Mars research will be on hand to answer questions and describe current and future missions at MARS DAY 2007!
The annual event at the National Air and Space Museum celebrates the Red Planet with a variety of educational and fun family activities. Visitors can see a real meteorite that came from Mars and view the latest images from the Mars Odyssey mission. A full-scale model of the Mars Exploration Rovers that are currently exploring the surface of Mars will be on display, and visitors can see the surface of the Red Planet in 3-D.
MARS DAY! 2007 is Friday, July 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
To find out more about MARS DAY! 2007, go to
www.nasa.gov/podcast. Click on the NASA Student Opportunities podcast, and follow the link in this week's show notes.
We want to hear from you. If you have any questions or comments about NASA learning opportunities, send an e-mail to:
educationpodcast@nasa.gov
Thanks for listening.
NASA Student Opportunities is a podcast production of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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