Howdy again yall!! We’re back from AIAA SciTech and I can’t wait to tell yall about it. And per usual I’ll sum it up in 3 words: space, friends, and for the first time amazing queso!!
SciTech was absolutely amazing, being a Rising Star in Aerospace, formally known as Diversity Scholar, was so cool! As a rising star, we had the opportunity to meet students from around the country and meet specialists in their fields in the space industry.
One of my favorite panels was the Rising Stars in Aerospace, hearing from professionals from various backgrounds was inspiring and their advice was my favorite from throughout the conference, my favorite quote being “ If you're not a little uncomfortable in what you're doing, you're not in the right place to grow.” Being an engineering major I think that quote really resonated with me as sometimes classes are hard but I know it’ll be worth it in the long run. Also at this panel I had the opportunity to meet Anita Cobbs who is a leader in the airport dual spaceport designing processes, a fun fact about my hometown is our airport is one of the first primary commercial airports to be given spaceport designation, and Anita actually was involved in the planning!
Alongside the Rising Stars in Aerospace program, we were invited to the AIAA Associate Fellowship dinner, where we had the unique opportunity to network and see the various individuals be inducted into the program, here I also had the amazing opportunity to meet Kai Harth and his family, he is the Senior Director and Chief Flight Software Architect for AST SpaceMobile. This company's headquarters is located in Midland as well and I work right across the street, so the Midland, Texas representation was super cool to see in the space industry!
My fellow Rising Stars in Aerospace were so cool, between our Uno night, Dennys night, and conference activities we had a blast getting to know each other and have already made plans to meet up around Texas since most of us were from here.
Zion and I were both from Texas A&M, but the coolest part was we are both currently a part of the Texas A&M Engineering Academy, while we are currently at different home campuses we will both transfer to College Station in the fall and will be at the career fair later this month, always awesome to meet other in the Aggie family!
Pepper was also a scholar who originated from Higher Orbits! Throughout the first couple of days, we made sure to let everyone know about the amazing Go For Launch programs and our panel that was happening later in the week.
Also, Pepper was a lifesaver on this trip, on the first day my luggage was delayed and she helped me quickly get an extra outfit, cannot thank her enough, plus the outfit was perfectly styled for me, space siblings know best. Speaking of Space siblings, thanks to Space Mom Michelle, I was able to meet three more Higher Orbits students!
Abi, Valentina, and Daniel. Andrew or Mini Stubbs was also at SciTech, he’s also from Midland so being a smaller city our dads happen to work together and I was on the swim team with his older brother so we’ve been in each other's orbits for a little while.
Meeting more Higher Orbits students is always so much fun since even though we’ve never met before all of us are connected. Valentina and I’s challenges and experiences in university studies were similar and it was truly amazing to have someone who understood you, plus her outfits every day were absolutely amazing. Abi and I on the other hand immediately took the sibling roles fast, between little roasts and now sending Dr.Pepper memes back and forth it’s like we’ve always known each other even though we just met.
Another bonus of going to SciTech was being able to go to the Kennedy Space Center! I felt like a kid on Christmas being at what Abi and I have named “Space Disneyland”, everything was so cool, seeing life size rockets, the Vehicle assembly building, and launch pads, that’s where all the magic of space happens! I’ve always wanted to see Cape Canaveral and it was awesome! The Space Shuttle Atlantis experience was jaw-dropping and an experience I’ll never forget.
Now it wouldn’t be a Brianna blog without a little mention of queso, I’m happy to announce that for the first time ever on a Higher Orbits dinner outside of Texas, the queso was actually amazing. The girls plus Spacemom decided to have a girl's day dinner plus Michelle's bestie Jason Hopkins, their relationship reminded me of my high school bestie Aiden Pope and I’s friendship. This dinner was so much fun plus the queso and meal were scrumptious, definitely wayyyy better than Italy's and Australia’s by miles.
Till the next space adventure see y’all again soon!
Written by Stellar Student Brianna Ortiz
