Last week was definitely crazy! On Tuesday, I got an email from my amazing mentor saying that Astronaut Rex Walheim would be able to talk to me on Wednesday. After reading the email, I wasn't able to process anything. I could not believe I was going to speak with astronaut. On Wednesday at 1:30 pm, I got to speak with him. Mr. Walheim has to be the coolest guy I have ever met! He is a veteran of three space shuttle missions. A really cool thing about him is that he was part of the last space shuttle crew to go to the International Space Station. In addition to this, he was invited to come speak with Former President Bush and also Former President Obama. How cool is that? He was so nice and gave me great advice on how to become an astronaut and also gave me an insight on the Orion Spacecraft development. He also shared with me his story of how he became an astronaut. His story was extraordinary! He inspired me to never give up and work hard. It is people like him that make me optimistic about the future of space exploration. Just when I thought this couldn't get any better, I received another email from Astronaut Jack Fischer. He is actually scheduled to go to the International Space Station next month. He emailed me how he was impressed with my work and how he would like to help me. Unfortunately, his schedule was super tight with his upcoming launch so he told me to email him any questions I had so he can answer them when he gets the chance. I totally understood his situation and was just happy that he knew me. I hope he has a successful launch in March. On Thursday, I got to speak with my mentor and told her about the amazing experiences. She was so happy for me. Afterward, we talked about the things we will do when I come to Houston, TX and may I just say, I AM SO EXCITED! I have been doing a lot of research for my final product. I have also been working on my original work speech that I have to give tomorrow. I am so excited to share my research and experiences with my ISM peers. Last week was definitely awesome!