hurricane season

Stepping out of my summer research in Miami, I was not expecting to carry on additional studies in Florida. While I applied for this Kennedy position in the Spring, I did not prepare for an immediate response. Internships, especially at desirable tech hubs, receive so many applicants that I feel as though receiving an interview can largely boil down to a number’s game. I will make a more detailed post about my interview process in the future.

About a week after my technical interview, I received an offer and a few days after that, a formalized contract for approximately 4 months of work on Command and Control Software.

A brief sigh of relief…

After an awaited call, my parents shared mutual excitement. Ecstatically, I overlooked the challenges of starting a new job. In just about a month, I had to arrange my absence with my university, find housing, and finalize government paperwork. The latter two came procedurally as existing resources from KSC’s education office guided me though indoc procedures. School arrangements initially posed an issue as I was researching in Miami and given the circumstances, in situ advising would be logistically impossible.

Due to a combination of insurance and scholarship concerns over the short timeframe, I was advised that taking a semester off would not be possible. Afterwards, I immediately began looking for online classes to satisfy the full time credentials. Thankfully, I was able to fulfill most of these credits by taking advantage of my department’s independent research classes. For this, I must give the upmost credit to the excellent assistance given my advisors in the Department of Computer Science and Honors College. If it weren’t for the collegial efforts on both parties, I’d be in a thorny place.

Upon arrival in Titusville, I had one week to settle down and prepare for work. I spent most of my time exploring the space coast and socializing with other early arriving interns. The exposure to such a diverse group of goal-driven, highly motivated individuals was extremely memorable. Regardless of background, all interns shared the common ambition towards space exploration. I imagine (or like to imagine) that this is how the initial astronauts felt upon selection. This unified energy carried on into the weeklong orientation. While learning about various engineering practices imperative to our semester work, we received daily tours of America’s launch capital. Ironically, this energy was temporarily suspended by Hurricane Dorian and the subsequent base closure for the week. As expected, Florida takes hurricanes a little more seriously than the Northeast.

In forward, I’m excited to be assigned to my project and hope my subsequent content is as exciting as my first two weeks.