Who am I?

Hi, my name is Mercedes Salem. I am a Foothill-DeAnza internship student at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. I work with the Outreach Program and find it to be very satisfying work. I am 21 years old and attend DeAnza College, located in Cupertino, Calif. After completing my education at DeAnza College, I will be transferring to Santa Clara University in fall 1996.

I live in San Jose and have lived here most of my life. Although I was born in Tehran, Iran, my family and I moved to San Jose when I was about one year old. I went to private schools most of my life, but attended a public high school. Most of my high school experiences at Del Mar were pretty good. I was an involved student and played a few different sports. After high school I went to the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).

While at UCSB I majored in Biochemistry. I stayed there for two years before I made the decision to move back to the Bay Area. Once I was here I enrolled in junior college while I decided on which college I wanted to graduate from. I set my sights on Santa Clara because it is a small, close-knit school with high standards, and I knew I will be very happy there. I have tried to make the best of the experience and, without attending DeAnza, I would not have been able to participate in this terrific internship program.

What do I do at NASA Ames Research Center?

My official title is research assistant. I work with Duncan Atchison who is the principal engineer and Rosalind Grymes who is the project manager for the Outreach Program. My tasks vary on a daily basis. For example, my tasks may include finding and sending different types of educational materials to teachers, students and a number of academic institutions.

My other responsibilities deal more with long-term projects such as this one. I have also worked on an educational CD-ROM for students about the effects of microgravity on the cardiovascular system. That was my first project and it really gave me a feel for the way a large bureaucracy functions. It taught me a lot about how to get things done and I met a lot of great people along the way.

What do I like best about my job?

I like my job the most when I feel like what I do has helped others. For example, our group attends and supports many different conferences, and helping to prepare for them is hard work for everyone. During these times you can see the group really pulling together and being a part of that makes me feel like what I do is worthwhile.

What is it like to work at NASA Ames Research Center?

A lot of times when people ask me where I work they are really impressed by the name and start asking a lot of questions like, "Is it intimidating to work with so many smart people?" The truth is that no, it's not intimidating, but at times it can be overwhelming. I thought that when I started working here no one would want to hear what I had to say because I was just a college student, but I couldn't have been more wrong. The people here are really interested in the input of everyone in the group. One thing I realized is that the people that work here do not work here for the prestige of NASA. They work here because they are really involved with what they do and want to make a contribution.

Personal Stuff

I am part of a small family that includes my mom, dad and 10-year old brother Kevin. For the most part, my brother and I get along well but there are times when our age gap gets in the way. For me, spending time with him is a blast, especially at the video or bookstore. I like to see his face light up when he discovers a new game or finds a new mystery book.

I also like to spend time with my friends. Usually we just try to catch each other at home because we all seem to have busy schedules. Nevertheless, we always make time for each other. I also like to play the piano although I don't get to practice as much as I would like to.