What is your next adventure?

This summer, I will be interning at Blue Origin in Kent, Washington, focusing on the New Glen Program after I get surgery on my knee. I will return to Georgia Tech to start my master’s degree in the BS/MS program.

What about your next adventure are you most looking forward to?

I've never been to Seattle, so I’m excited to go there. I'm a big outdoorsy person, so I want to explore the Pacific Northwest, but I'm also thrilled to work for Blue Origin. It's a different side of space than I’ve worked in the past. I know a few other Georgia Tech people going, which is great. Every single internship I've ever had, there have been Georgia Tech people there. I’m looking forward to going to Seattle with friends, too. I hope the work will be amazing, so I can't wait. Did you have any previous co-op, internship, or research experience in this area?

Did you have any previous co-op, internship, or research experience in this area?

My first internship, I worked at Northrop Grumman after my sophomore year. Then, I interned at Blue Canyon Technologies during my junior summer. I was a NASA Pathways intern for the past two semesters where I did two semesters at Johnson Space Center in Houston. I'm also in the Georgia Tech Space Systems Design Lab with Professor Glenn Lightsey and have been for the last year and a half, where I worked on the VISORS mission, which is a CubeSat formation flying mission. 

How did your educational experience at Georgia Tech help you to achieve your goals?

One of the things I love about Georgia Tech is how many opportunities within aerospace there are to get involved outside of classes. It's so important, and it's helped me so much in my internships to have had experiences where I'm applying what I learned in the class and working with other students. It's a little less intimidating to work with your peers sometimes before you go out into the real world or corporate scariness. But everyone here is so brilliant at Georgia Tech, especially in my research lab. The people I worked with are so kind and willing to help out. They mentor people as they come up through the labs. So that's been amazing. I've been so fortunate to work with awesome people and leaders.

What advice would you give to an underclassman who would like to follow the same path?

Get involved in the aerospace community, whether joining an organization like the Aero Maker Space, which I worked in and absolutely loved, or any other organization. So, I highly recommend the Aero Maker Space, whether it's working or just hanging out there. There are so many amazing people that come through. Also, get to know people in your classes. Talk to the person next to you because everyone here is so kind. People seem scary, but they're not. Everyone's just trying to get through this together. You can't get through this alone. You have to lean on the people around you, so that'd be my most significant piece of advice.