Carving Your Own Path

Transcript

Okay, it’s time to talk about an education that’s truly out of this world. Andy is an aerospace engineering student whose passion for space exploration founded a launching pad right here at Illinois Tech. Andy credits her professors with preparing her to land amazing internships, including one where she worked on the largest aircraft in the world. It is time for a lift off, Andy, please take it away.

– Thanks Alex. What’s up beautiful people. After graduating in the 2008 recession, working 10 years of jobs I’ve hated. I started volunteering at the Adler Planetarium, going back to my old love of space exploration. While on maternity leave, I watched the Falcon 9 land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship and I knew I had to be part of that world. Illinois Tech was the only school in Chicago that offered what I wanted in aerospace engineering. The faculty here care about your success and they know who you are. My professors have been incredibly understanding when issues arose with my young daughter, Zoe, or when I was diagnosed with cancer. Without my professors, I wouldn’t be a USRA scholar, a NASA space grant recipient or a Brook Owens fellow. Without them, I wouldn’t have worked on the largest aircraft in the world over the summer at Stratolaunch, or started working toward my private pilot license. Thanks to the support of this school, I was able to start Illinois Tech Rocketry, a team of students who wanted to get their hands dirty and build rockets. Within six months, we put up the school’s first high powered rocket. We have a small space now, but future students will be able to build bigger and fly higher because what’s the point of carving a path if others can’t follow? I am all about space exploration, be it building rockets or working on space habitats, I wanna be part of the future. I want other moms to see what I’ve done and follow their dreams. I wanna show my daughter, Zoe, that not even the sky is a limit for her. Thanks to Illinois Tech, I can. That’s my story, back to you Alex.

– What an exciting journey. Thanks Andy. It’s so inspiring to see how students at Illinois Tech receive personalized attention and support in addition to an amazing education and access to hands on experiential learning opportunities. Talk about taking your future to the next level. Absolutely incredible, take care.