Breaking the Barrier (11/02-11/08)

As the deadline for the submission of my original work rapidly approaches, I was feeling disheartened due to the lack of resources I possessed to refer to in the construction of my original work. As I have discovered through my past research in Independent Study and Mentorship, information on spacecraft design is largely unavailable on the Internet and to the public. As a result, I have had to start much later than I wished to, as well as accomplished much less than I have hoped to at the moment. Honestly, there was a point where I doubted whether my original work proposal was a viable one for me to study to get a better understanding of my passion. I found the solution to the pressing issue in a manner that I did not anticipate to return me any great favors: interviews. While the interviews that I have requested in the past have paid off in their own ways - such as giving me a better understanding of the professional world of aerospace engineering and an insight into the various career paths I can pursue - they have not lent me a great deal of resources which I can access at the moment. My interview with Hannah Rens gave me access to a textbook inspecting the fundamentals of space mission engineering, which has given me a great deal of information in regards to constructing my original work as well as my passion. In fact, it has even given me aid in thinking of what I would like to do for my final product. As I aim to find a mentor closest to my passion in the shortest period of time (which is also extremely difficult), I arranged several interviews with professionals employed in all areas of aerospace engineering. I still feel that I may end up selecting a mentor later than others, which may pose a danger to the experience I hope to build during the course of my Independent Study and Mentorship, but I feel that if I do not put in the time and effort to select a mentor that either specializes in spacecraft design or close enough to it, I will regret it as I chase after my career of interest in the future. Mentor selection is definitely the next great challenge that I have to face in the upcoming weeks, and I hope to overcome it just as I have done so for my original work.