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Nicole

photo of nicole "Ad astra!" is a Latin quote I've heard many times meaning, "To the stars!" My parents have been telling me my whole life to reach for the stars and luckily I have been given many opportunities to fulfill my dreams. This summer I was selected to be on the Young Women of NASA Student Advisory Council which has opened many doors for me and brought me one step closer to my goal of becoming an engineer. My work on the council involves interviewing NASA scientists, engineers, and other women in exciting careers and writing their profiles for the project pages. This is giving me a great insight into the many fascinating opportunities an engineer has. I have had two fantastic experiences with the council recently. This past summer I attended the launch of STS-93 at Kennedy Space Center. You can read about this incredible experience in my STS-93 Launch Adventure. I also just took a trip to Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and met with astronauts: Commander Eileen Collins, Dr. Ellen Ochoa, and Mission Specialist Yvonne Cagle. Check out this photo in the training simulator and read about my Johnson Space Center Adventure.

nicole in simulator

I'm a Junior in high school right now, and my future goals are to graduate from high school with good grades, attend college (so far I really like Cal Poly and Cal Tech), and become a software engineer. My trips with the Young Women of NASA have helped me learn about the jobs I'd like to have, the colleges I want to go to, and have helped me meet successful female role models - which can sometimes be hard to find in the computer industry. I've been lucky enough to attend private school since Pre-Kindergarten. I've had the opportunity to work with technology at school, and my school has given me the opportunity to be whatever I want, which includes jobs that deal with math and science.

I'm very involved in school. I'm on Student Council, CSF, which is our honors society, and PAC, which presents our school to eighth graders who are interested in coming to our school. I'm really into sports, too. I swam competitively for seven years. I also played water polo for three years and went to the Junior Olympics in 98. Although I swim to keep in shape now, I don't really have the time for after school sports anymore. I do have lots of fun coaching my younger sister's junior high basketball team. I played basketball for five years, but I didn't have enough time to play in high school. I really missed sports though, so I decided to coach, which has been a really fun experience. I also love to travel. I've been lucky enough to go to Hawaii, Europe, Asia, and around the country. It's really interesting to not just learn about other cultures, but experience the culture for yourself. I think history is more interesting when you actually visit a historical site because it becomes more alive. Something snaps in your head like, "This actually happened!" I haven't been able to vacation much in the summer lately because of the many activities my sister and I do.

As an ending note, I'd just like to say dreams really can come true. And although that sounds really corny, it's true. There are many opportunities out there, so take advantage of them. Another quote I like, and would like to end with, is "Carpe Diem!" "Seize the Day!"

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