July 13, 2021
The Brooke Owens Fellowship summit is officially over and I am feeling so much more motivated than I was before the summit. Listening to amazing speakers like Ellen Ochoa and Lori Garver pushed me to keep going after my dreams. I'm sad that the summit is over but I'm so thankful for the experience I gained.
Today, I bought tickets to fly to DC in August! My BOF mentor Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy is going to be bringing me to the Cygnus launch!! On Thursday I am adopting a senior cat (16 y/o) named Midas. He has been in the shelter since 2014 and no one has EVER tried to adopt him. I'm so excited to give him his golden years.
Earlier today I responded to a DM sent to me asking me how I stay strong after failures and hardships in school. I responded with this:
Hey [redacted]!! I apologize for the late response I have like 100 DM requests right now. I was a really really strong student in highschool I had a 4.5 and got a 5 on Calc BC and whatnot but at college I fail exams left and right. When I failed my first class (I actually failed another one the next semester lol) part of what kept me going was being told I couldn’t work at NASA unless I retook it. That was a turning point for me because I realized that I couldn’t imagine doing anything besides aerospace and it didn’t matter how difficult it got I was going to do it. I actually did panic for a bit and want to change majors. I thought that I was the dumbest girl in the whole department and I was so disappointed in myself I thought that I wouldn’t be able to get through engineering. It took a while for me to come to the realization that it didn’t matter if I got a C in calc 3 or if I had to retake freshman year physics because I was still able to get internships and become a part of the aerospace industry. I focused on the skills that I did excel at like coding and I used that to my advantage during interviews. There were lots of interviews where I was asked about my transcript or my gpa and I simply explain that college hit me like a truck and it took a while for me to adjust, but I retook that class and I got my gpa up and I got jobs because I’m passionate about it.
A lot of people, especially women in STEM, feel like they aren’t cut out for their major because the courses are really difficult but I promise if you’re feeling that way you’re not alone. Of course there are those people who it seems like it comes to them so easily and they ace every test but they usually lack in other ways like social skills (not to be rude lol) and being well rounded is way more important for your career than say getting 100% in diffEq.
If you’re studying mathematics I’ll make the assumption that you like math because math can be really fun and interesting, so don’t forget why you’re studying it. When things get tough sometimes the best thing you can do is just remind yourself that you’re a badass and majoring in mathematics is not easy so you have already accomplished so much! Always ground yourself and think back to why you’re doing this: because you like it!
Honestly, if at any point you’re struggling just remind yourself that Harriet Hunt literally is confused 90% of the time in class and has a 3.3 gpa and still worked at NASA. You’re doing great even if sometimes you forget that.