Hi! My name is Yuridia Sanchez, I am 17 years old and I am from the small border town of Nogales Arizona. Since a very young age, I have been intrigued by space exploration and astronomy. Everybody who has known me since I was little knows it has been my dream to work at NASA.
From a young age, I would do fundraising by selling bracelets made of wire and glass beads and making bows out of colorful ribbons. I was about five or six and I would sit at the dining table at my house all day trying to make bracelets to sell on the Fourth of July in order to make enough money to attend space camp. I am very involved in my community through my job at the school superintendent's office, my other job as a photography assistant, and several clubs at school as well, including Future Business Leaders of America and 4-H.
Through 4-H I was given the opportunity to go to the Kennedy Space Center to participate in Higher Orbits' 4-H in space event. Through the event, I was able to express my love for sustainability and space exploration through my experiment. At the event, I was able to meet Michelle and Katy and learn what Higher Orbits is, how it started, and its missions and goals. After learning this, I knew I wanted to find a way to be involved as I knew Higher Orbits was amazing.
As soon as my flight back home landed I tried contacting Michelle to try to become involved. I also continued to present to the youth of the community telling them about the importance of space exploration and how they can get involved as resources are limited in our city. I also continued trying to contact Michelle because I knew I definitely wanted to be a part of the incredible Higher Orbits team.
The summer came around and I applied to the Australia Higher Orbits event and although I did not get chosen for that, I was able to find other ways to become involved with Michelles' help. As a senior in high school, I am planning on basing my senior project on the importance of space exploration.
I am also on the path to begin classes at the community college to receive my Associate of Applied Science in Business in order to hopefully receive my Bachelor from Arizona State University in Applied Science: Project Management as well as a minor in Astronomy and a certificate in Planetary Sciences. My lifelong dream has been to work at NASA and I am so excited to be here and to be a part of Higher Orbits.
Written By Yuridia Sanchez
