The Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes

Tonight--- life. I have come to the conclusion that this summer, wasn't a summer at all. It's not hot, sticky, smelly, and boring.

I think I've been kidnapped and taken to the stars for a little bit. Chilling on the tops of clouds... listening to the good ol'Beatles, chatting with my friends in NY and Chi-town from afar, learning about amazing missions to the stars and here on the good earth, going out with the gals and shopping for photo-shoots, buying aviator sunglasses, and eating ice cream-- all while throwing fears and worries aside and jumping off of the high dive again and again.

I'm pleased to say that the database has come a long way and is on it's last stage of development as well and workplace life is great as usual. I've made many an ally here at NASA and can't wait to check in and see what they're up to in a few months.

NASA's people all inspire me in different ways; from our project specialist and her incredible tales of the real pioneers- women in STEM, to our all star 'solar system' teacher/chaperone (who also manages to rock a champion attitude at all times), to our students-- who CREATE and PRODUCE and PERFORM like it's nobody's business, to my co-workers in our office (PhDs) who are brillient and have an incredibly enriched understanding of the world and can describe to me what it's like from an entirely new lens. Everybody here, is part of an eco-system that functions on a really high level but at the same time, everyone is smiling and really enjoying what they do. Let me tell you, not only is the attitude contagious and inspiring, but it makes my work with the database worth doing, and gives me encouragement to finish what I've started.

I am again, really blessed and really happy to be taking these million dollar steps in each and every million dollar moment (especially while I'm on base) and I hope that in the future I can explore other NASA centers and careers.

Other than that, my only complaints are of the food (or lack there of) and it's spotty nutritional value and the longing for my family and HUGS. HUGS are not as natural here for some reason... they just don't fly with the professional persona and engineering personality. For all those who remember how I used to not be a huggy person... well ya. That's out the window now and I do recognize how important a part that is... especially with the fam and the friends. So E-HUGS for everyone at home and out there in NY, LA, Northwestern, Chicago or wherever else you may be.

*Faith*
-Girl With Kelidescope Eyes

Anybody Hear Me

This weekend was a BLAST!

Our INSPIRE group got the chance to see the bodies exhibit in Cleveland which was AWESOME! I never knew all of the different processes that have to go smoothly in order for me to run.

Roller skating was also fun... I think I'm starting to get the hang of it! But perhaps even more fun than roller skating was SEGWAY tours! Riding a segway is WAY cooler than I orginally thought. It truly does feel as if it is an extension of your body after a while.

The evening landed us as Dave and Buster's, an arcade for adults. I won a stuffed polar bear and had fondue with a good group of kids who know how to have fun! While jamming out to Ke$ha on the way back to the dorms, I felt as if I could touch the sky.

I am so blessed to be a part of such an amazing group of teens.

Today, after a beautiful walk through Cleveland's Wade Park, we went to an Air Museum where we were able to learn about military planes and try on Air Force gear as well as see memorials and actual planes that we were allowed to get into. It was an amazing experience... but it didn't end there. We got to visit a man who made a 10th scale model of the Saturn V rocket... it was in his garage. We got ot see the plans and touch the rockets!

It was pretty incredible and after, we were treated to a gormet lunch at a Whole Foods Type place which had a mean pasta salad.

On the work side of things, it is database crunch time for me which gets me a little stressed but I am eager to finalize the draft of the database and present it to the risk management team.

The weather over in Cleveland is sunny and gorgeous (as usual) and all of us feel great to be alive and well.

I hope that everyone is well!

-Girl On The Rise

Ice Cream and Blood

So today was another eventful day at good ol' Glenn. I continued work on my database and presentations for INSPIRE. In addition, our office had a get together conversation surrounding the importance of the Blood Type Diet and Organic Peach Ice Cream in our office.

I was also able to enroll in an engineering class that is one day long on technical writing. I am going to be shadowing Ron next week at an Ares Thrust Vector Control, and I will be attending a Job Fair next week. I can't wait! Tomorrow we have our DLN presentations and I am going to the Cultural Luncheon...

Today, I also gave blood for the first time. Then we got to go to Wal mart.... which is always cool.

But after you give blood everything is a little cloudy and LOOPY. That's how I feel right now... but it's all good...I like being on the clouds. It's FUN.

Talk to y'all soon!

Love love,
Mess with the Mo Jo
-Olivia

Slow Show (PHOTOS)

The Lost Get Found

Hey everyone!

So, today was pretty jam packed and eventful from clouds to rain to a beautiful sunny evening. The NASA interns got a chance to hear from the director of NASA Mr. Boulden about what NASA's new direction will be. It was very interesting to hear about a rover playing host to two poor souls stranded on the moon for 6 months. =)

After we heard from NASA and senators, we piled into the van for a wonderful lunch at a local burger joint. Singing along to Ke$ha in the car, our lunch was full of laughter, kinship, and fun.

When I got back to my workplace, Leon and Sell gave me valuable insight as to how Co-ops and jobs with NASA work. After the valuable part of the conversation, Leon and Sell took a good 30 minutes explaining Aliens and Predators to me (apparently they are supposed to be really cool...???).

Our 21st century skills workshop today about thinking outside the box required the interns to create a catapult (which is ALWAYS fun)... and it was fun getting to see all of the other interns' ideas at work.

When we returned for the second time to our workplace (Avinash and I) we realized that there was a massive evacuation. Haz Gas. They had the fire trucks and ambulances and everything. Good stuff. Avinash and I have not died. Yet. Oh NASA.

Friday evening after dinner, the girls went shopping for roller derby get-up and I am proud to announce my first purchase of Victoria's Secret "Pink" clothing-- lime green sweat pants. We also got a bunch of other semi-rediculous looking clothing to wear for tomorrow at a local goodwill. After we shopped for clothes, we stopped off at the mall for initiation. I got my ears pierced under the name Olivia Rogers having my mother as Sam... it was cool.

I really like it here at Case. I'm learning a lot about life and what it means to cross-over to a different season of life for sure. Fun--- the right kind of fun... Work--- and a good work ethic... Independance--- and the responsability that comes along with it... Faith--- and letting go of nerves, apprehension, and fears.

Sometimes you just have to jump off of the high dive... and your heart... your heart will tell you whether it is ok or not ok... and I'm learning more and more to listen really closely to that voice that comes from the heart.

That's all for now!

Sincerely,
GIRL on the RISE

Holiday

I hope everyone had a restful and safe 4th of July! I was tickled pink that my family came to visit me in Cleveland. We spent much quality time together which was very nice. I'm happy to say that my whole family looks healthy and well.

I was especially happy to see my favorite dog, Lily (although I think she was a little confused-- jumping into suitcases-- making sure she's not left behind anytime). But, being with my family was awesome because after the three weeks on my own, I realized just how much I appreciate them (and how much they talk).

After I bid my family a fond farewell, we visited the zoo and then it was back to work. On tuesday we visited the NASA Great Lakes Science Center which was for the most part fun-- it's got nothing on the museum of science and industry but it was definitely a nice break from the usual. Today, I got 2 fantastic opportunities-- one was attending a briefing about nuclear fuel for rockets-- apparently we have metric tons of uranium on the tips of our fingers just waiting to be used up (eek). But I was also made privvy to the fact that when we were planning on going to Mars-- it wasn't going to be a nice week long escapade for the astronauts-- those poor souls would have to spend upwards of 590 days on the hostile landscape of Mars... who wants to fly?! That's my reaction too.

The other event was Leon's meeting... which was interesting becuase I got some insight into what all goes on to prepare for the audits... the next one is apparently in August. Things were getting so pressed for time that some of the employees suggested that they hide the "unacceptabe" materials and tools in a locked closet that the auditors couldn't get to. Haha... audits.

As for databasing on my project, it's coming along a lot better than I thought. I have a pretty solid foundation... and now it's just a matter of ironing out the MANY MANY kinks in the database. Hopefully by the end I'll have something that the risk management team and I can both be proud of.

For now, this is NASA Girl On the Rise signing off.

Check out my GLOGSTER at http://swimmeroa11.glogster.com/nasa-glog/

We are one tonight

So, last night was awesome! We got a chance to go ice skating (it's been YEARS) which was so much fun. Avinash learned how to skate (after quite a brutal beating from the ice). But were happy to wobble around in our skates and hold each other up.

After the team building at the rink, we went to Little Italy for some super gelato... and then played LAVA MONSTER in the park accross the way. It was a truly memorable experience. I'm really getting used to the group and am really happy that we are all getting along well.

Tonight, we'll have to crack down and get to work on our blog and vodcasts as well as expense reports. Lots to do... but tomorrow's FRIDAY. And then the fun starts all over again.

This weekend, I get to spend some time with my family which will be nice and I can't wait to see all of them and hear about how things are going at home.

Things at NASA are swell I guess... I'm still working on the database-really hoping I'll be able to finish and meet their standards by the end of my time here... 5 weeks left-eek!
I'll post pictures of our ever-awesome skating group later.
Hope everyone is doing well!

Love and Faith,
Olivia