Christie Carlile...
Welcome to my homepage. As you can probably guess by now, I am
a NASA Co-op here at JSC. Working for NASA has been my dream since
the 5th grade, so it should be no surprise to you that I will only
sing praises of being a co-op. It is impossible for me to speak
poorly of NASA or the coop experience.
Background…
I currently live in Huntington Beach, CA but I also consider Albuquerque,
NM one of my hometowns, as I lived there for 11 years before moving to
California. I am a 3rd year (of 5 years) in Aerospace Engineering at
the University of California, San Diego (Sixth collEGE!). At school,
I am involved with ISS EarthKAM (www.earthkam.ucsd.edu), which is a NASA
sponsored education program which enables students of any age to take
pictures from the Destiny Labratory on the International Space Station.
When I'm not busy with classes or EarthKAM, I enjoy sports, fast cars,
shopping and lounging around in local coffee shops.
Becoming a Co-op…
The process began in the 5th grade when my parents sent me to Space Camp
at Kennedy Space Center with my best friend. It was there I was bitten
by the space bug and my life hasn't been the same since. I chose my major
of Aerospace Engineering for the purpose of one day working for NASA.
I was becoming worried on how to get my foot in the door so I could apply
for a job once I graduated. After much deliberation with my parents,
I decided to try to get an internship with another company to make myself
a more desirable candidate. Not two weeks later, JSC came to my school's
winter job fair. As soon as I saw their booth, I ran back home to print
out my resume and change from my sweatshirt and jeans to decent looking
clothing. After meeting with Stephen Williams for a few minutes, he kindly
granted me an interview for the following day. I had one of the best
interviews of my entire life and over a week later, I got a call from
him offering me a position. To say that I was ecstatic would be a drastic
understatement. I didn't think twice about delaying my graduation by
a year and accepted the job. I never would have thought that I would
be working for NASA at the age of 20. What a dream come true!
Work…
This is my first tour at JSC and I work in the Attitude
and Pointing department in the Operations Division of the
Mission Operations Directorate.
We are the pointers, and we are proud pointers. If I had to guess,
I think we are the only department where we play with small
toy shuttles
all day. Or at least, that’s what I do. I have been learning
orbital mechanics, attitudes and positions of the space shuttles, how
to read
the attitude timelines, and learning to operate the many programs that
the pointers use on a daily basis. I was very fortunate to have OJT
(On the Job Training) during the most recent shuttle mission (STS-115)
in
the MPSR (Multi Purpose Support Room). I had insane hours of working
from 3am-11am, or 10pm-5am. But it was worth the lack of sleep. During
the remainder of my tour, I expect to do some classroom sessions, simulators
and create user's manuals and validation scripts for programs. I also
get to create my own attitude timeline! I have really enjoyed applying
what I have learned both in school and working here. I have learned
more in the past month working here than I have in my entire college
career!
I can't imagine how much more I am going to learn in the months to
come.
Social Life…
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| Some friends and I at X-prize |
While the stereotype still holds true about the pocket protectors for
NASA employees, us coops know how to have a good time. Once you are done
with work, you have more free time than you know what to do with. Every
night there is something going on, so it is rare that you will become
bored or homesick. In the one month I have been here, I have gone to
the Jack's Mannequin concert, shopping at the Galleria, seen the Body
Worlds exhibit, watched college football games (a luxury unknown to us
at UCSD), visited the beaches of Galveston and explored downtown Houston.
If you claim you are bored here, it is because you have locked yourself
in your room, turned off your cell phone and computer. All the coops
are friendly- expect to make life long friends during your visit.
In Conclusion...
NASA is awesome, JSC rocks, and you will not find a job
better than being a co-op. If you do, let me know. And
winning the lottery doesn’t
count. If you have any questions at all about co-oping, UCSD or even
EarthKAM, feel free to email me at: ccarlile@ucsd.edu or christie.l.carlile@nasa.gov
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