Aracellie Chavera...
Hi there! I am Aracellie Chavera and obliviously you clicked my name to find out more about my co-op experience and to find answers; so I will try to do the best I can to meet your wishes.
About Me
So first things first a little about me, I am a senior at the University of Houston and my major is Management Information Systems (MIS). I was born in Kerrville, Texas and have lived in League City, TX (a suburb to Houston) for my whole life basically and I love it! But I guess anyone would say that of their hometown. Besides it is like they say "Everything is bigger and better in Texas!" But really Houston is a great place to live there is Galveston and Kemah near by, we have nearly everything over here, so it really is a fun place to live. So obviously, I am a little different than most the Co-ops because I live at home, so I can't give you the whole perspective of moving away from home and how that is, but I can give you my "life long" story with NASA and how great of a place it is to work at.
Becoming a Co-op
First I refer to it as my "life long" story because I have been working at NASA since I was a junior in high school. I started co-oping at NASA as an Office Education (OE) student, hired on by University Space Research Association (USRA). I enjoyed the overall experience of working at NASA, so I continued on through my senior year. I did the usual copy, filing, faxing and simple errands, but overall it was great working out here and being able to say I work at NASA was cool too! My senior year I began finding more interest in NASA and I didn't want to leave after graduation, so I applied for the Education and Training Cooperative (ETC) program and was hired. I became more involved than doing the usual copying and filing, but my term with the ETC program was ending and I was only a sophomore in college, but I knew I wanted NASA to be my career; if I could only get hired on. At first I did not consider the co-op program because I didn't think I would like the on and off a semester thing and the biggest
factor graduation being delayed. So instead, I turned to a contractor Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and I was given an internship. However my internship was just for a year, so at the end of my junior year it was time to look at other options. After talking to my incredible mentor/supervisor she highly recommended that I look towards the co-op program being that it would allow me the opportunity of NASA being my career. I thought okay so maybe it's not such a big deal if graduation is delayed I get to work at the best place in the world and it would be better in the long run. So I decided to apply, after applying and meeting with Sara White and what weeks of anticipation and anxiety waiting for an answer, I finally got the call from Sara..I was hired! I was ECSTATIC!!!!!!!
Working at NASA
So my first tour began this spring 2006, and I am in the Logistics Division, in the Supply and Support Services Branch. I do a variety of things such as assist in maintaining the budget for office supplies and office furniture. I also place orders for supplies and furniture. I have learned how to design layouts for offices that are being rearranged or moved using MicroStation. I have worked in the bond rooms where they keep flight hardware (stuff that's flown or is going to fly). I have learned so much from this experience and this has been by far a great one! After experiencing the OE, ETC, and contractor programs, the co-op program is definitely the way to go!
Of course there's work to do, but there are always lectures and tours which are really cool! We have taken tours of the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (the 6.2 million gallon tank where the astronauts do some training), EVA Chamber, Building 9 (where they have the mock ups of the shuttle) and Mission Control. We have also heard incredible lectures from Gene Kranz and John Young among others. One more thing there is so many co-ops out here that there is always something going on after work.
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NBL Tour |
Historic Mission
Control Center |
Overall, I hope that after reading my experience, you have a clearer picture
of what the NASA co-op program is. If you have any questions you can e-mail
me at Aracellie.chavera-1@nasa.gov or
at acchavera@uh.edu. Look forward to
hearing from you!
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