Coleman Pearson

My seventh grade birthday party was filled with fun festivities, treats, and goodies. However, as always, I was solely focused on those shiny, gleaming boxes with big red bows on top, begging me to open them. When it was finally time, I grabbed the biggest one and sat with my family at out breakfast table. As I finished unraveling the mystery of what was in my present, I was not surprised, as this is what I had been begging my parents to get me for months. I was, though, filled with joy with what lay within. When I got the box open, I pulled out a big, blue, menacing model rocket.

All throughout middle school, I had started my interest in space and how we have figured out how to reach it. While I couldn't yet work at NASA, I could still indulge in this mesmerizing field with model rockets. As a hobby, by myself, I would continue to build and fly rockets, and loved it every step of the way.

In high school, I was able to level up my game. I started an experimental rocketry club, where I taught others how to build rockets and fly them (or more accurately, crash them). More excitingly, however, I gathered my friends who were also interested in engineering, and headed a team that would go onto compete at the national level with rockets that were taller than me. Working hands-on with these type of projects was an amazing experience and great fun. Many months of hard work culminated with our final rocket: The Titan.

At UGA, I have continued my passion and help out with UGA's Small Sat Research Lab and Rocketry clubs. I currently am studying aerospace engineering here at UGA, and I hope to make this lifelong hobby turn into not so much of a hobby anymore.