Bryan Grant...

Hi, my name is Bryan Grant, and I'm a third year Management major from Georgia Tech. I was born and raised in Norcross, Georgia and graduated from Norcross High School in 2001. I had lived in the Atlanta area all of my life until I moved to Houston to co-op August 2003. When I am at school I am involved in the Georgia Tech Student Foundation where I am on the Board of Trustees and hold the position of the Marketing Director, serve on the Student Advisory Board for the DuPree College of Management, and participate in the Ramblin' Nights Steering Committee where I serve as a Co-Chair of the Committee. I am also involved in the Student Government Association, and work as a Student Assistant in the Office of The President. Outside of my activities at Tech, I am an avid cyclist and work for the National Football League.

I've just completed my first tour as a Business Co-op working in Accounts Payable in the Financial Services Branch under the Financial Management Division of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. I came into the financial world at JSC at a very interesting time. We have just closed out our fist fiscal year in a new, agency wide, accounting system - SAP. So, not only was I thrown into the deep in to learn an accounting system that was still fairly new to the regular employees, I also walked into the middle of a back log of older work during the crunch time to have things finished by the end of the fiscal year. While the work can be tedious, all of the people in my group are great and fun to work with. We were able to band together, dig in, get the work done, and have a successful end to the first fiscal year in SAP.

You might be asking yourself, why would a Management major want to work at NASA/JSC? There are many reasons actually. More often that not, when you co-op in private industry, you are "the" co-op in an office, you're not always given real work, and you will most likely be working on the same projects every semester you co-op. At NASA/JSC you are treated as a real employee, and given meaningful work that really needs to be done. You are not treated as a student, but as a member of the team working towards a common goal. Another big advantage of the business co-op program at NASA/JSC is that you will be working in a different directorate every tour. So not only do you see the many different sides of the business world as NASA/JSC and how they work and interact, you also gain experience and exposure to many different areas of business in general. Finally, there are tons of other co-ops. During the Fall and Spring tours, there are usually about 40 other co-ops, and even more than that in the summer. Basically, once you leave work, there is always something to do. Co-ops go to the beach, play softball, play broomball, carve pumpkins, go climbing, and take trips to places like Austin, TX, and even Cancun, Mexico!

Beyond your regular work at JSC, there are lots of ways you can become involved in, and contribute to the co-op program. This tour I became the Chair of the Co-op Housing Committee, which is responsible for publishing the NASA/JSC Co-op Housing Guide. I have also helped start a new program called the NASA/JSC Co-op Ambassador Program, which will help reach out to incoming co-ops, possibly like yourself, and help them make the transition to life in Houston.

In addition to getting involved in the program, there are lots of other interesting tours and lectures that only co-ops can attend. These events are great ways to learn more about JSC's role in NASA, and about the manned space flight program in general. The pictures on the page show some of these events: our lecture from Gene Kranz, shaking hands with Robonaut, sitting in the Commanders seat of the High Fidelity Shuttle Mock-up, and standing in front of the cockpit of the Shuttle Training Aircraft. Some tours we've had are: Ellington Field, the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, Historic Mission Control, active International Space Station Mission Control, and the Vacuum Chamber, just to name a few. We've also had lectures from people such as Christopher Kraft (the man who came up with the idea for Mission Control), Gene Kranz (Apollo era Flight Director), Bill Parsons (current Manager of the Space Shuttle Program), and many different Flight Directors, Flight Controllers, and Astronauts.

If you are even considering applying or accepting a position at NASA/JSC, do it! I've been in Houston since late August, and have had the best time of my life. If you have any questions at all, please send me an e-mail at gtg590a@mail.gatech.edu, and I'd be happy to answer them. Good Luck!