Is an internship with NASA worth it?

ak2018
Thu, 22 Jun 2017 16:19:31 +0000

Hey! I will actually be in a similar position as you next year. I’m actually a rising senior who is set to intern with NASA sometime after I graduate high school and am likely expect to start working with them right after college. I actually got to participate in a NASA class in Earth System Science that allowed me to create professional connections with them and will be attending the summer academy this Saturday. I’m definitely grateful for the fact NASA has pretty much secured me a career at the age of 16, so long as I keep my end of the baragin and keep in contact with them throughout the rest of high school and college, and I think that having a NASA internship is definitely a rare and exciting opportunity. I was actually talking to one of the NASA program coordinators one day and she had said that me participating in the program gives me an advantage over many future internship applicants since they usually try to look for people who’ve had prior connections to NASA first, so if you haven’t had any prior connection that’s even more rare. So I would say to definitely take this opportunity as more than just something to check off on your “college app” list, because this really does extend beyond college and could just be a potential jumpstart to your career.

Also, if you wanted to know a little more about what we’re doing at NASA Langley (Newport News) next week, it’s pretty much a one-week academy that will take us through the creation of our very own mock NASA mission. They want us to get a grasp of what it’d be like to be go through the motions, so they’re having us “apply” for certain positions in within our mission such as mission leader and satellite orbital calculations manager. We’re also going to present our PowerPoint on the garbage gyres in the Pacific Ocean since we had chosen to work on the issue of Global Pollution. Overall, it’s definitely going to be a great experience.

If you happen to live in Virginia, by the way, you could also participate in a similar program to mine. PM me if you want more details.