Personal Narrative: My Experience At The Science Club

On June 12, 2006, I was ready to board my flight at San Diego International airport, when I was given a once in a lifetime experience. As I began to board, the captain and first officer were greeting the passengers ahead of me. The line was moving very slowly; however, I eventually made it to the front. The captain and I began talking when all of a sudden he asked a very typical question, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” I responded, “I want to be a pilot” and for no apparent reason offered to take me into the cockpit. Inside the cockpit, the captain continued to talk about the plane while pointing to instruments such as altimeter and vertical speed indicator, when I suddenly asked him, “How did he become a pilot?” He responded by saying,
“When I was 17, I took my first flying lessons, then I went to college to become an aerospace engineer and now I am here.” At that moment, I realized that I wanted to major in aerospace engineer. After that day, there was a spark in me to learn everything about aerospace engineer.
Doing some research, I learned about the science club in my middle school. During the science club, we did many experience relating to physics and chemistry. Every time we did an experience, I would try to apply it to an airplane. For example, after forming a group of four, we were given the task to design a go cart in auto-cad and then build it in reality. After completing the first challenge we must race it against other groups on race day. During race day, we were expected to calculate speed, drag and friction, and a few years later I did the same with a plane in my first aerospace class. Another example came in high school, when I was in my 3rd year in the robotic club and the adviser gave us a challenge. The challenge was to create a wheelchair pitching machine for a friend of his that happen to be a paralyzed baseball coach. The challenge was tough because it was the first of its kind; however, we learned about compressors, circuits, programming and how to work as a team. As a result, during my sophomore year of college, I took Physics 196 and a programming class. Luckily for me both of those classes were not a challenge because I had learned majority of the content in robotic
club. I believe that everything I have done leading up to today has allowed me to grow as an individual. I have gained so much from my past and majority of it came from clubs. Clubs such as Design Build fly, gave me the hands on experience that is not offered in the classroom. I have gained more than from the club than the hands on experience. I made some meaningful connection, I learned how to work in a team efficiently, and I also apply my prior knowledge in the classroom.