Describe what you did during your internship:

The general attitude at the Johnson Space Center is very intern-focused, so when I wasn’t working, I spent a lot of my time attending intern events, such as guest lectures, tours, and more. I also made sure to network and meet many other people in the organization.

Did you achieve your goals?

Yes, I did achieve my goals! The UPRITE interface, Flywheel middleware, and Flywheel support tool were all developed as planned. There are still discussions being had to continue optimizing the software, fixing any potential bugs, and adding functionality to each, which is pretty typical in the software development lifecycle.

Describe positive lessons learned:

One or the most important lessons I learned is that if you want to make something happen, you absolutely can at NASA. If you’re interested in a project, or you want to pursue a potential opportunity, the only caveat is that you have to take the initiative and ask about those things yourself. Maybe you asked and were turned down – ask again, either to someone else or by discussing an alternative. There’s a good chance that, at the end of the day, it’s possible, and someone will be interested in helping make it happen for you.

Describe negative lessons learned:

The summer term is insanely short. It can be super difficult to manage all of the intern experiences offered to you, on top of the actual work itself, because it felt like there was simply not enough time to take advantage of everything. It was hard having to sacrifice certain opportunities over others in the sake of time, but my time management and decision skills have definitely become more refined as a result.

What was the impact of this internship?

My NASA internship gave me a lot of invaluable technical skills and connections, but the overarching lesson that it taught me was that, with enough enthusiasm and relentlessness, there really is no limit to what you can do and where you can end up. I’m forever grateful to the ISGC for opening the door to this opportunity for me.