Day 1 Mission: Arrival.
Today starts the journey of a life long dream of mine, to go
in space. Well, okay, so I’m not really
going into space, but it’s the closest I will probably ever come to being in
space. I was one of a group of teachers from around the world who applied and
was accepted to Honeywell Educators Space Academy (HESA), in other words, Space
Camp. Since I was a kid, I dreamed of going on missions to Mars and to the
Moon. I used to play Star Trek as a kid with some of my friends. I never got to
be the captain; I was always one of the crew. I’m hoping I might get to be
captain for one of the missions this week; we will have to see how that plays
out. In 2011, I headed down to Florida with my husband and children to watch the last shuttle launch of the
Endeavor, however, at the last minute the mission was cancelled due to some
technical issue. I couldn’t get any more time off from work and ended up
watching it on television. I cried when I called my boss and asked for a few
more days to watch the launch and he said no. I since have a new boss who
thinks me embracing my inner geek, is cool, and not only allowed me to miss the
last few days of school, but also encouraged me to write about it.
When I applied to HESA, I think my husband thought I had
lost my mind. “Aren’t you a little old
for that?” He asked. Nope. You’re never too old to follow your dreams. “Aren’t you afraid of throwing up in the
anti-gravity chamber?” He asked.
Yep. Now that one, I am a little afraid of. Let’s face it; I get dizzy watching
the merry-go-rounds. It’ll be challenging for me, sure, but being able to
conquer my fears and have the adventure of a life-time far outweighs my being
afraid to make a fool of myself.
Today, I met teachers from all over the place. I’ve met
teachers from Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Slovenia, teachers from
California, Arizona, and New York. My suite mates at the University of Alabama,
where we are staying are super cool. Tamera is from North Dakota, and Karen is
from Mexico. We were all so excited to receive our flight suits tonight. We
were all taking selfies and shamelessly posting them to Twitter, Facebook, and
Snapchat. I put mine on as soon as I got
it and wore it proudly. Don’t tell anyone, but I’m actually going to sleep in
it. I don’t think I ever want to take it off!
Our first mission starts tomorrow at 7 a.m. We were told it
was going to be a long 12-hour day. Hey, we’re teachers, we’re used to long
hours. We were also told to bring our flight suits with us, as we will need
them for part of the mission we will be working on. I am so giddy about the
prospect of getting to wear that suit, I don’t know if I will even be able to
sleep tonight!
Mission arrival: success! Over and out.
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