CEP Experience
By Krystin Ramos
Career Exploration Program January, 2008
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
-Walt Disney
Deciding what to do for the rest of your life can be somewhat challenging for a new college student. For as long as I can remember I knew that I wanted to major in biology, but I never really thought about what I was going to do after graduation until this fall when I began working at NASA as part of the Career Exploration Program.
Since August of 2007, I have been working in the Neuroscience Lab. After discussing with my mentor that I wasn’t sure if Biology was the route I wanted to go, she immediately listed numerous labs that all impact NASA’s mission. I was very interested in the Psychology department, so she set up a meeting for me with the lead for Astronaut Psychology support.
During our meeting, we went over everything that goes on behind the scenes of an astronaut’s life, including how astronauts stay in contact with their families through private family conferences (PFC) and how they receive care packages throughout their stay in space. We even went through all the psychiatric conferences that astronauts have weekly to ensure their safety and health. I also saw the rooms where NASA converts music and movies into special files, which I found very interesting. The files are sent into space when the satellite and shuttle are aligned just right and the astronauts can receive it on their computers and listen or watch during their free time.
One thing I’ve learned since the beginning of my internship with NASA is that you don’t really know what is out there unless you do a little investigating. Without speaking up to my mentor and discussing what I wanted to do in the future, I would have never been given this opportunity. For the first time in my life I am sure about what my future goals are and I don’t see any sign in changing them. When I graduate I would like to receive a Masters in Psychology and hopefully one day work alongside those that I met at the NASA Wyle Lab. Anything is possible and I have the desire to make this goal a reality one day.