Jason Cellura...

My journey to NASA started in a rather peculiar way. I attended a career fair at school in search of a summer internship and after speaking with many different employers noticed the JSC booth on the way out. I decided to stop by and see if they offered any sort of internships and was greeted by the smiling face of Anne Roemer. After speaking with Anne for a few moments she said that I should come and interview for the co-op program at JSC the next day (even if I wasn’t sure I wanted to co-op). So I decided why not, I’ll get some interview experience even though I probably won’t get the job. I mean seriously doesn’t NASA just hire those with like 5.0 GPA’s? Well apparently not. I was contacted by Anne a few weeks later and offered a spot in the program. So here I am today, a NASA employee.

I am currently on my first tour at JSC and I can tell you that becoming a co-op here is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made (not too hard when you take in account some of the bad ones, but still a good decision nonetheless). I am currently in the Institutional Procurement Office working on a variety of tasks including putting together purchase orders, MIPR’s, modifying contracts, exercising options, and closeouts just to name a few. The work is something new since I am more of a finance person, but the people are great. I can say that the atmosphere in my office (or cube city as it has been called) is one where the people are very friendly and make for a great work experience. Although I look forward to heading to finance for the summer I’m definitely going to miss some of the times in B45.

As for the social life I’d have you can pretty much do something every night of the week if it tickles your fancy. There is always something going on either with the co-ops or your co-workers. So far I’ve been to Mardi Gras and Las Vegas, and that was just the first 2 months! I can’t wait to see what else JSC has in store for me, but up to this point I can say that being a co-op is the best of both worlds. How many times in life will you get to gain real world experience (not to mention a paycheck) while living in a great city like Houston, and still be a college kid? Not many, which only reiterates my point that becoming a co-op is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me through email at jjc24@case.edu.