One of the biggest perks of this session is that I haven’t had to do any prep work for the class I help with, which is a well-timed change for me since lately I’ve been having to travel a lot for my job. Of course the downside of my new schedule is that the session seems to flying by. I’m amazed at how quickly our Mars Mission has progressed. Today was the start of the last full week of the session, and next Monday I’ll be out of town on a business trip, so yesterday was my last day of Operation SMART!
That’s not to say the girls haven’t made the most of this experience though. Every day that I’ve been here there has been another inspiring woman presenting her story and getting the girls excited about space exploration. Last Monday I was so enthused watching some of the girls stay after Bonnie Ngyugen’s presentation to practice naming parts of the model Atlas rocket she brought in, and yesterday I was pumped to see the Chief Technology Officer of Lockheed, a fellow chemical engineer, talk about how important technology is to her job and to everyone’s lives.
Class has been great too; the girls are really working their critical thinking muscles by deciding on a landing site for the Mars spaceship and brainstorming the details of the mission. The Lockheed volunteer, Andrew, is doing a fantastic job leading the girls through the design process and making sure they work as a team. It looks like they’ll be finishing their mission in the next few days, and I’m really sad I’m missing the big finale!
On another note, although I’ll be absent for the last day of Lockheed’s programming, I’m going to do my best to make it on the 12th for the farewell party for some of our youth instructors, especially Danielle, who is going to nursing school full-time starting this January. Working with the instructors is one of the most fun and rewarding parts of volunteering at Girls Inc. and I will absolutely be sad to see her go. I still remember our coffee shop meeting in the Highlands when we first started brainstorming for our Operation SMART class last year! However, with every ending is a new beginning, and while Danielle is embarking on her new career I’ll also be starting next session by assisting a new instructor. I’m sure it will be great, but I definitely hope I get to wish Danielle well before she takes off for good. We’ll miss you!
That’s not to say the girls haven’t made the most of this experience though. Every day that I’ve been here there has been another inspiring woman presenting her story and getting the girls excited about space exploration. Last Monday I was so enthused watching some of the girls stay after Bonnie Ngyugen’s presentation to practice naming parts of the model Atlas rocket she brought in, and yesterday I was pumped to see the Chief Technology Officer of Lockheed, a fellow chemical engineer, talk about how important technology is to her job and to everyone’s lives.
Class has been great too; the girls are really working their critical thinking muscles by deciding on a landing site for the Mars spaceship and brainstorming the details of the mission. The Lockheed volunteer, Andrew, is doing a fantastic job leading the girls through the design process and making sure they work as a team. It looks like they’ll be finishing their mission in the next few days, and I’m really sad I’m missing the big finale!
On another note, although I’ll be absent for the last day of Lockheed’s programming, I’m going to do my best to make it on the 12th for the farewell party for some of our youth instructors, especially Danielle, who is going to nursing school full-time starting this January. Working with the instructors is one of the most fun and rewarding parts of volunteering at Girls Inc. and I will absolutely be sad to see her go. I still remember our coffee shop meeting in the Highlands when we first started brainstorming for our Operation SMART class last year! However, with every ending is a new beginning, and while Danielle is embarking on her new career I’ll also be starting next session by assisting a new instructor. I’m sure it will be great, but I definitely hope I get to wish Danielle well before she takes off for good. We’ll miss you!
