Season 3, Episode 9, #AskAbby Space and Science Show: Homeschool Edition

Presented by TheMarsGeneration.org

Girl Meets Astronaut

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In Episode 9 of  #AskAbby Space and Science Show: Homeschool Edition, host Abby Harrison will discuss growing up with the dream of becoming the first astronaut to walk on Mars! From her role models to her support system, Abby will discuss all the people who have supported her towards following her dream.

In this episode, Abby answers questions posed by MaryRose Candere’s class at After School STEAM Center: Clever Play Education & Training. Questions include: Are you super smart? What toys did you like to play with as a child? Who were your heroes growing up? What did your family and friends think when you told them about your dream? What was your favorite subject in school? What’s one thing many people do not know about you?

Transcription of Girl Meets Astronaut

ABBY

Hi everyone and welcome to #AskAbby: Homeschool Edition! This is a new series of AskAbby which is meant to provide resources, as well as some of those much needed space puns and jokes, to students who are now doing distance learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic!

Each episode will feature questions submitted by students from around the world.

This episode is focused on…me! With questions submitted by MaryRose’s 6 – 12 year old students from the After School STEAM Center: Clever Learning Education & Play. 

Today we’re going to be focusing on how to shoot for the stars…as a kid!

*INTRO*

ABBY

Question number one: Are you super smart?

I think so. We’re all smart in our own ways, and especially so when we’re focusing on subjects that fit our interests. And it just so happens that, if you weren’t aware yet, one of my big interests is space. 

So when it comes to space, I would say yes, I’m pretty smart. I’m also really passionate and interested in education as a whole – I always loved school – and also in science. So those are some other areas that I would say, yeah, I’m pretty smart.

Yeah I am pretty smart. Sometimes I even get called a smart Alec…which is weird, cause my name’s not Alec. Should be… a smart Abby.

Question number two: What toys did you like to play with as a child?

I was actually a pretty easy kid as far as toys go. For me, my favorite toys were anything that allowed me to really use my imagination. And especially things that I could play with outside, and get kind of hands on or dirty with. And so one of my favorite things when I was really little was to take all of the pots and pans out of our house, anything I could find and make mud pies in them. Basically just dumping dirt and water and whatever else I could find and act like I was making something new. But really what I was doing was just getting as many dishes dirty as I could.

Question number three: Who were your heroes growing up?

As a kid my heroes were actually really close to home. It was people like my science teacher, my mom, my big sister, those kinds of people. And then as I got older, I started to add more people to the list of who I really looked up to and would call a hero. Those people were astronauts, or scientists, or other people who were doing really incredible and amazing things out there in the world. 

And I think that we can all agree that our lists of who we look up to or who we see as heroes have grown massively during this difficult time during this pandemic. I know that I’ve seen a lot of people who have done heroic things, and heroic, or looking up to someone as a hero, doesn’t always mean that they’re out there doing something massive like traveling to space or speaking in front of an audience or anything like that. 

The people that I’ve seen who have become my heroes recently are those who are putting others before themselves. People like essential workers or healthcare professionals who are making sure that everyone gets what they need in order to live and survive. And even the people who are doing small gestures, small acts of kindness; neighbors helping one another out, families coming together, things like that. That’s been real heroism that I’ve seen recently. 

And if you are an essential worker or a healthcare professional and you’re watching this, I want to say thank you. Truly and deeply. Thank you. And hopefully you know now that you’ve been added to my list of heroes.

Question number four: What did your family and friends think when you told them about your dream?

When I was a little kid my family definitely thought that I might grow out of my dream of wanting to be an astronaut or maybe didn’t quite take it very seriously. But they still supported me and told me to believe in myself and that I could do anything that I wanted. And it turns out that as I got older and kept saying that I wanted to be an astronaut, and didn’t grow out of that dream, they were right there for me. My family’s always been really supportive, I’ve been really lucky to have a lot of other people as well who have been supportive. People like the friends that I’ve made,  the teachers that I’ve had, the mentors who have helped me. 

And what I’ve learned from all of that is the way that you convince other people to support your dreams is by being vocal about them. By telling other people about your dreams, that’s the very first step. And then also showing that you’re taking actions to make those dreams a reality. If you take actions towards your dreams, and are really vocal about them, I think the people in your life will be much more likely to respond positively and help support you and help you reach those dreams. At least that’s what happened for me.

Question number five: What was your favorite subject in school?

I didn’t have quite one favorite subject, I had two favorite subjects when I was in school and those were: science, of course, and recess. I’m just kidding. My two favorite subjects were actually science and art, which when you think about it, they’re not too dissimilar from one another. Hmm. 

What’s your favorite subject in school right now?

And Finally, our last question – and it’s a good one.

Question number six: What’s one thing that many people do not know about you?

You asked, I’ll tell. That’s the deal. So, here’s something that many people may not know about me because I do things like flying airplanes, jumping out of airplanes, (but not those two at the same time), climbing mountains, and even want to go to space. But I actually used to be afraid of heights. I had a real phobia of heights when I was little. But I got over it and now I get to do a lot of fun stuff. And you know what I actually also had a fear of needles. But, just like heights, kind of got over it, kind of didn’t. I still go get my shots and my vaccinations and all that, without too much drama or fuss. Okay, a little bit of fuss with that one. Fine, a lot of fuss. You bite one doctor, one time…

Now that’s something you know about me that you may not have before.

Today I talked about my dream, and the early days of my dream. And especially about the people who helped support me, guide me, inspire me, and generally were there for me along the way towards my dream.

I hope that sharing my story will help you chase after your own dream as well, and especially that from what I had talked about you learned that it’s important to be vocal about your dream, and that in doing so you can build an invaluable network of people who will support you. And just remember; believe that you can achieve your dream. And also know that even though it’s your dream, that doesn’t mean that you have to do it alone. And hey, thanks for watching!

If you have a question you’d like to ask, you can go ahead and Tweet me using the hashtag #AskAbby, or by submitting it on The Mars Generation website.

And until next time, keep safe, keep healthy, and keep learning! So long fellow travelers of spaceship Earth.