Why NASA Is Important To Me; September 6, 2009
Sometime two years ago or even as recently as last year, a spunky, slightly awkward freshman among the sea of CVN volunteer student members in the organization stood out to me. He was friendly, enthusiastic, and exuded a drive of passion that is so rare in people, much less a freshman. This guy would show up to almost every show, usually even more prepared than me, ready to help. Through casual conversation, I learned the student was an engineering major (typical, I thought) aiming to reach the stars. Literally. His goal in life was to work for NASA.
As time went on, he became more and more involved with CVN until one day he was voted in as one of the new executive board members. Throughout the entire secret election process, I was rooting for him because unlike the majority of the other applicants I knew that were applying, he was genuine. I could feel it.
Sad to say, little Randy only served with us on the board for half of a semester. He did not return to us this year. And you know why? It's because that ambitious now-sophomore is now interning for NASA in Houston, Texas. This guy--he made it, and as strange it is for me to feel this way because I barely know him, I am so proud of what he has accomplished thus far. NASA is not an easy organization to get involved in. When he first texted me last semester that he just barely got an interview with the recruiter but was moving on in the process, I empathized with his happiness. I don't empathize often.
I am glad to have met this individual and am glad that such hardworking and passionate people really exist. Now read this blog post he wrote and tell me Randy isn't the coolest guy.
WHY NASA IS IMPORTANT TO ME
by RANDY ECKMAN
http://emanspeaks.xanga.com/711378933/why-nasa-is-important-to-me/
This is from my "NASA Blog" I've been keeping for friends back at school and abroad who wanted me to document my exciting stories from work. Since my exciting stories this week weren't that exciting, I decided to write something a little different this week. After writing this, I felt like it would be appropriate to "simulcast" it here on Facebook for everyone who cares to know why NASA means so much to me.
If you're interested in following my NASA Blog, go to http://emanspeaks.xanga.com
--------------------------------------------------------------
September 6, 2009
Week 3
Not much exciting "new" stuff happened this week. I was trained on the 3d printer and we have it up and running now! I'm looking forward to start printing models in the next few weeks as we test the software I am writing to create the models to print!
Actually writing the first draft of my software has been such a headache. I'm not even going to go into the details here, but after some long deliberation my mentor and I came to the conclusion that writing my software in C was going to be a much better option than Fortran because C can better interface with the 3d printer's software. Converting the Fortran code to C and then also expanding the code to include new features requested by people in the office have made this program THE single most complicated computer programming code I have ever written in 12 years of programming. I can't even count the number of pointers and pointers to pointers to arrays of pointers, etc.
The one very exciting thing is that I did, in fact, finish the first draft of my software Friday. We all thought it was going to take me a few WEEKS to write this software, and I did it in three days. This is a new personal record for me I'm pretty sure. I'm just really excited to see how the final product is going to turn out.
Because I worked so much this week, I was able to leave work early on Friday, so I came home and took a nap.
I know I made this blog to document my time at NASA, but I wanted to make the rest of this post a little different for a change because there's something I'd like to address that up to this point I have not done in public. Or to anyone other than Amanda, really.
I've always been sort of a boring person. Pretty much until I went to Purdue, my mom and sister would go out in the afternoons and evenings and go do "fun stuff" and I'd usually sit at home with my grandparents and read or work on homework or play on my laptop or something along those lines. You know. Boring stuff. As a result of this I've always considered myself pretty close to my grandparents and, in particular, my grandpa.
My grandpa was always my biggest supporter in pretty much everything I've ever been involved in. He always wanted me to have the best and be able to do everything I wanted to do, as he did all his grandchildren. He spoiled us grandchildren...in good ways, though, of course. Any time any of us grandkids wanted something and he legitimately thought we deserved it, he'd stand firmly behind us and see to it that whatever it was would happen.
I pretty much had my mind set on going to Purdue since my freshman year of high school because I wanted to go to a school with close ties to NASA and still be close to home. My mother and grandmother both initially tried to talk me out of it because it wasn't a realistic option...there was no way we could afford for me to go there, and what were the odds that after going to that big school I'd end up working for NASA anyways? I don't blame them for being realists. But my grandpa argued and lobbied for me for the next four years and eventually convinced my family to let me go to Purdue.
But the summer before I was to start school at Purdue, my grandpa knew that I knew someone working for Johnson Space Center who had told me they would give me a personal tour of the NASA center if I ever made it down to Houston. My grandpa wanted to take my family down to Houston for one last vacation before we wouldn't be able to afford it anymore for my birthday so I could finally get to see the inside of Mission Control, a lifelong dream.
While my family was excited and really wanted to go, once again, there were financial issues and quite a few logistical issues with coming down to Houston. We would be going the week before I was to start at Purdue and I hadn't even started packing yet, and we were getting ready to be pretty deeply in debt from paying for school. Long trips make most of my family members carsick, and they just didn't think it was going to be worth it. But my grandpa insisted, worked everything out and agreed to be flexible with the driving to accommodate everyone's carsickness. He thought I deserved to go to Houston and was going to make it happen if it was the last thing he did.
The trip to Houston turned out to be one of the greatest memories of my life and the NASA visit experience proved to be a valuable resource when it came time for the big co-op interview. When they asked me why I wanted to work for NASA in the interview, I told them the story I tell everyone about how I used to pretend I was in Mission Control when I was 3. But I also told them about how I had learned to love engineering, technology, serving others, and serving my country from my Grandpa.
My grandma was having some major surgery when I got the call from Houston telling me I had been accepted, and I was really worried that something would happen to my grandma and she would never get to hear my exciting news. My grandpa was really worried about my grandma, too, and he got pretty sick too. We thought it was just because he was worn out from being worried about my grandma, and maybe that is what started it, but nonetheless, that was when my grandpa first became ill. Despite being sick, my grandpa came and picked me up from school that weekend, and I don't think I'll ever forget that conversation we had in the car on the way back home.
He told me how proud he was of me and that he always knew I'd get to work for NASA. He knew it's what I've wanted since the day I was born and that's why he wanted to see to it that he would do whatever he could to help make that happen. I think my grandpa was actually more excited that I got the job than I was. It really meant more to me than probably anyone else has ever said to me. Not that my grandpa didn't have respect for me before, but it was like he had a new respect for me after this, almost like a "military" respect, if you know what I mean.
My grandpa died almost exactly a month after this conversation. I knew my grandpa was proud of me from the conversation we'd had, but it didn't really hit home until his funeral. Nearly everyone at the funeral home came up to me, even people I didn't even know, and told me my grandpa used to brag about how proud he was of me for getting the job with NASA. He must have really talked about it a lot and his excitement for me was apparently extremely contagious.
After the assassination of JFK, everyone in the nation felt that going to the moon went from a simple goal to a "crusade" in his honor. After my grandpa's funeral, I was filled with a feeling that I imagine is similar to that of those engineers working for NASA in the post-JFK era. My grandpa was always a hard worker, and I always strove to be a hard worker like him before, but it became completely different. In his absence I have completely dedicated myself to my work at NASA, and it is this driving force that helps me work so hard here in Houston. I know this is what made me work to finish my project in 3 days when I knew I had weeks to work on it. My time here in Houston is valuable, and in addition to wanting the valuable work experience, I feel the need to excel in the name of my grandpa.
So when I took my nap Friday afternoon, I had a dream. I dreamt that I was walking down the sidewalk one day and my cell phone rang. It was from a number I didn't recognize, but I answered anyways. I heard my grandpa say hello. He said he was proud of me for finally getting down here and starting to work, and that he congratulated me on my "fine work so far." He told me that people would notice if I kept up the good work and said some more encouraging words. I still didn't have a chance to say anything back to him when he suddenly said he couldn't talk for long and had to go. He wished me luck in work and in life and that he loved me, and hung up.
Some would say it's just a dream that I fashioned in my own subconscious. Some would say it was actually his spirit contacting me to let me know he's there as my "engineering guardian angel." Either way, I awoke and was very moved by the dream. It reminded me once again how I got here and how thankful I should be for not only my grandpa but for everyone who has supported me and helped me get to NASA. It reminded me why my work is important and gave me encouragement to keep working hard like I am.
It's been brought up a lot lately by other people who don't understand why NASA means so much to me. It means a lot to me for many reasons, but the reason that I work so hard is because I want to make a difference in the world the way my grandpa taught me to, and I want to appropriately honor his memory with my hard work.
As time went on, he became more and more involved with CVN until one day he was voted in as one of the new executive board members. Throughout the entire secret election process, I was rooting for him because unlike the majority of the other applicants I knew that were applying, he was genuine. I could feel it.
Sad to say, little Randy only served with us on the board for half of a semester. He did not return to us this year. And you know why? It's because that ambitious now-sophomore is now interning for NASA in Houston, Texas. This guy--he made it, and as strange it is for me to feel this way because I barely know him, I am so proud of what he has accomplished thus far. NASA is not an easy organization to get involved in. When he first texted me last semester that he just barely got an interview with the recruiter but was moving on in the process, I empathized with his happiness. I don't empathize often.
I am glad to have met this individual and am glad that such hardworking and passionate people really exist. Now read this blog post he wrote and tell me Randy isn't the coolest guy.
WHY NASA IS IMPORTANT TO ME
by RANDY ECKMAN
http://emanspeaks.xanga.com/711378933/why-nasa-is-important-to-me/
This is from my "NASA Blog" I've been keeping for friends back at school and abroad who wanted me to document my exciting stories from work. Since my exciting stories this week weren't that exciting, I decided to write something a little different this week. After writing this, I felt like it would be appropriate to "simulcast" it here on Facebook for everyone who cares to know why NASA means so much to me.
If you're interested in following my NASA Blog, go to http://emanspeaks.xanga.com
--------------------------------------------------------------
September 6, 2009
Week 3
Not much exciting "new" stuff happened this week. I was trained on the 3d printer and we have it up and running now! I'm looking forward to start printing models in the next few weeks as we test the software I am writing to create the models to print!
Actually writing the first draft of my software has been such a headache. I'm not even going to go into the details here, but after some long deliberation my mentor and I came to the conclusion that writing my software in C was going to be a much better option than Fortran because C can better interface with the 3d printer's software. Converting the Fortran code to C and then also expanding the code to include new features requested by people in the office have made this program THE single most complicated computer programming code I have ever written in 12 years of programming. I can't even count the number of pointers and pointers to pointers to arrays of pointers, etc.
The one very exciting thing is that I did, in fact, finish the first draft of my software Friday. We all thought it was going to take me a few WEEKS to write this software, and I did it in three days. This is a new personal record for me I'm pretty sure. I'm just really excited to see how the final product is going to turn out.
Because I worked so much this week, I was able to leave work early on Friday, so I came home and took a nap.
I know I made this blog to document my time at NASA, but I wanted to make the rest of this post a little different for a change because there's something I'd like to address that up to this point I have not done in public. Or to anyone other than Amanda, really.
I've always been sort of a boring person. Pretty much until I went to Purdue, my mom and sister would go out in the afternoons and evenings and go do "fun stuff" and I'd usually sit at home with my grandparents and read or work on homework or play on my laptop or something along those lines. You know. Boring stuff. As a result of this I've always considered myself pretty close to my grandparents and, in particular, my grandpa.
My grandpa was always my biggest supporter in pretty much everything I've ever been involved in. He always wanted me to have the best and be able to do everything I wanted to do, as he did all his grandchildren. He spoiled us grandchildren...in good ways, though, of course. Any time any of us grandkids wanted something and he legitimately thought we deserved it, he'd stand firmly behind us and see to it that whatever it was would happen.
I pretty much had my mind set on going to Purdue since my freshman year of high school because I wanted to go to a school with close ties to NASA and still be close to home. My mother and grandmother both initially tried to talk me out of it because it wasn't a realistic option...there was no way we could afford for me to go there, and what were the odds that after going to that big school I'd end up working for NASA anyways? I don't blame them for being realists. But my grandpa argued and lobbied for me for the next four years and eventually convinced my family to let me go to Purdue.
But the summer before I was to start school at Purdue, my grandpa knew that I knew someone working for Johnson Space Center who had told me they would give me a personal tour of the NASA center if I ever made it down to Houston. My grandpa wanted to take my family down to Houston for one last vacation before we wouldn't be able to afford it anymore for my birthday so I could finally get to see the inside of Mission Control, a lifelong dream.
While my family was excited and really wanted to go, once again, there were financial issues and quite a few logistical issues with coming down to Houston. We would be going the week before I was to start at Purdue and I hadn't even started packing yet, and we were getting ready to be pretty deeply in debt from paying for school. Long trips make most of my family members carsick, and they just didn't think it was going to be worth it. But my grandpa insisted, worked everything out and agreed to be flexible with the driving to accommodate everyone's carsickness. He thought I deserved to go to Houston and was going to make it happen if it was the last thing he did.
The trip to Houston turned out to be one of the greatest memories of my life and the NASA visit experience proved to be a valuable resource when it came time for the big co-op interview. When they asked me why I wanted to work for NASA in the interview, I told them the story I tell everyone about how I used to pretend I was in Mission Control when I was 3. But I also told them about how I had learned to love engineering, technology, serving others, and serving my country from my Grandpa.
My grandma was having some major surgery when I got the call from Houston telling me I had been accepted, and I was really worried that something would happen to my grandma and she would never get to hear my exciting news. My grandpa was really worried about my grandma, too, and he got pretty sick too. We thought it was just because he was worn out from being worried about my grandma, and maybe that is what started it, but nonetheless, that was when my grandpa first became ill. Despite being sick, my grandpa came and picked me up from school that weekend, and I don't think I'll ever forget that conversation we had in the car on the way back home.
He told me how proud he was of me and that he always knew I'd get to work for NASA. He knew it's what I've wanted since the day I was born and that's why he wanted to see to it that he would do whatever he could to help make that happen. I think my grandpa was actually more excited that I got the job than I was. It really meant more to me than probably anyone else has ever said to me. Not that my grandpa didn't have respect for me before, but it was like he had a new respect for me after this, almost like a "military" respect, if you know what I mean.
My grandpa died almost exactly a month after this conversation. I knew my grandpa was proud of me from the conversation we'd had, but it didn't really hit home until his funeral. Nearly everyone at the funeral home came up to me, even people I didn't even know, and told me my grandpa used to brag about how proud he was of me for getting the job with NASA. He must have really talked about it a lot and his excitement for me was apparently extremely contagious.
After the assassination of JFK, everyone in the nation felt that going to the moon went from a simple goal to a "crusade" in his honor. After my grandpa's funeral, I was filled with a feeling that I imagine is similar to that of those engineers working for NASA in the post-JFK era. My grandpa was always a hard worker, and I always strove to be a hard worker like him before, but it became completely different. In his absence I have completely dedicated myself to my work at NASA, and it is this driving force that helps me work so hard here in Houston. I know this is what made me work to finish my project in 3 days when I knew I had weeks to work on it. My time here in Houston is valuable, and in addition to wanting the valuable work experience, I feel the need to excel in the name of my grandpa.
So when I took my nap Friday afternoon, I had a dream. I dreamt that I was walking down the sidewalk one day and my cell phone rang. It was from a number I didn't recognize, but I answered anyways. I heard my grandpa say hello. He said he was proud of me for finally getting down here and starting to work, and that he congratulated me on my "fine work so far." He told me that people would notice if I kept up the good work and said some more encouraging words. I still didn't have a chance to say anything back to him when he suddenly said he couldn't talk for long and had to go. He wished me luck in work and in life and that he loved me, and hung up.
Some would say it's just a dream that I fashioned in my own subconscious. Some would say it was actually his spirit contacting me to let me know he's there as my "engineering guardian angel." Either way, I awoke and was very moved by the dream. It reminded me once again how I got here and how thankful I should be for not only my grandpa but for everyone who has supported me and helped me get to NASA. It reminded me why my work is important and gave me encouragement to keep working hard like I am.
It's been brought up a lot lately by other people who don't understand why NASA means so much to me. It means a lot to me for many reasons, but the reason that I work so hard is because I want to make a difference in the world the way my grandpa taught me to, and I want to appropriately honor his memory with my hard work.