Initial Australia Thoughts from Abi

I was looking through my snapchat the other day when I got a little notification reminding me what pictures I had taken in the app on that exact day, a year prior. This past sunday that notification was filled with pictures from my 2nd Go For Launch camp last year in 2018. I looked through all the cheesy pictures and goofy videos of my teammates and I and our team activities when I found myself comparing my 1st time going and my 2nd time going.

I attended my 1st Higher Orbits Go For Launch! Camp my freshman year back in 2017. I was beyond nervous and had no idea what I was walking into, I was afraid I was going to be dumb compared to the kids going and that no one would want to talk to me. At the beginning of the three day camp, I had anxiety just standing up and saying my name. But by the end of those days I was standing in front a crowd of people leading my team in a presentation about our planned experiment. Three days, that’s all it took to find confidence in myself and fall in love with STEM. A year later I attended my 2nd Camp with a whole new mannerism and excitement, a new passion and plan. I walked in those doors that first day knowing I belonged there and grateful for everything that I had experienced.

The past two years have been nothing short of extraordinary. And it’s all thanks to Higher Orbits. This camp showed me it’s okay to be different, its okay to get excited and be confident in things others aren’t in. The expose to the space community and STEM has opened countless doors for me and provided me with the fearlessness to seize as many as possible.

One of those opportunities being, the application process of the International Science School in Sydney Australia presented to me through Higher Orbits. I never would have applied and wouldn’t have even be qualified if it weren’t for that space filled three day weekend, my freshman year of high school. I never would have found myself crying tears of joy as I heard my name be announced as one of the five US student recipients; I never would have had the confidence I now do to reach and try for things I could have only dreamt possible if it were not for Higher Orbits.

My life has changed for the better these past two years and i couldn’t be more grateful for it. I can’t wait to see what Australia and the future has in store for me.

 

Blog written by Abigail Youngker


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