Ask Us Anything: Brooke Owens Fellows Answer on Reddit's /r/IAmA

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By Caroline Juang, 2017 Brooke Owens Fellow

On Sunday, December 3, 2017, the 2017 Brookies took to their computers to answer questions about the Brooke Owens Fellowship on the community website Reddit. The chat took place in the online forum /r/IAmA, where individuals or groups can hold question-and-answer sessions with the broader Reddit community, composed of members of the public from around the world.

The session with the Brookies lasted an hour, garnering some great responses that are recorded below ranging from their experiences as women in the aerospace industry to advice for the application process.

Participant Brookies in the chat initialed with their replies:

  • AC = Amy Comeau, Aerospace Engineer at Purdue University; Business Development Intern, Bryce Space and Technology

  • CJ = Caroline Juang, Bachelors of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University; Landslide Citizen Science Project Coordinator, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Bryce Space and Technology

  • DA = Diana Alsindy, University of California, San Diego; Propulsion Development Engineer, Virgin Orbit

  • GN = Golda Nguyen, Mechanical Engineering Senior at Georgia Tech, Payloads Intern at Blue Origin

  • HL = Hayley Lewis, Spaceflight Operations Undergraduate Student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Mojave Air & Space Port

  • JC = Jocelyn Clancy, Astronautical Engineering at University of Southern California; Modeling and Simulation Intern, The Aerospace Corporation

  • JW = Justine Walker, Dance and Physics double major at The College of Wooster; Sierra Nevada Corporation

  • MI = Morgan Irons, Bachelors of Environmental Science and Biology at Duke University; Founder & Chief Science Officer, Deep Space Ecology; Avascent

  • MM = Madeleine Miller, Mechanical engineering and Astrophysics at Union College; Spacecraft Mechanical Engineer at Planet

  • MG = Maryam Gracias, Spaceflight Operations Senior at Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University; Air Line Pilots Association

  • MS = Madison Sargent, Aerospace Engineering at University of Kansas, Ball Aerospace - Strategic Operations Intern

  • PP = Pau Pineda, Aerospace Engineering at Purdue University; Systems Design Engineer, Orbital ATK

  • SA = Sumayya Abukhalil, 4th Year Aerospace Engineering Student at University of Central Florida; Orbital ATK

  • In addition to all of those 2017 Fellows, one of the co-founders of the program joined the chat: Will Pomerantz (WP), who is also the Vice President of Special Projects, Virgin Orbit.

SpacecadetShep on Reddit: “As women in a historically male-dominated field, how has receiving this fellowship further empowered you to further pursue careers in the aerospace industry?”

The most empowering part of the program for me has been meeting other incredible women in the aerospace industry. The idea of knowing 35 other women who are not only women in aerospace but share many of my passions, dreams, and joys has assured me that I’m not alone and I have other people on this journey with me. -JC

Before being selected as a Brooke Owens Fellow, I felt that I was very limited in who my peers were around me. At the University of Kansas, there are only 5 females in my class and even then, it was difficult to find the same level of passion that I had for my future career in space. Aside from that, Kansas is not a state that focuses a whole lot on the space industry and so outside resources were not abundant. Being a part of the Brooke Owens Fellowship completely changed that for me. I was all of a sudden surrounded by 35 other women who were just as passionate as me, if not more at times. I was given a mentor and an internship in the space industry that allowed me to gain connections and experience that I may not have been exposed to otherwise. Looking back, I can't imagine now what I do without the support group that I have from this program. I know that I can reach out to 35 women if I have a question, an idea or just need a friend to talk to. I also know that I can reach out to people in industry to discuss issues that need changing or create new and exciting opportunities for my local community because of the network I now have. This kind of access, support and constant inspiration already has and will continue to empower me throughout the rest of my career. - MS

I have been empowered by the sheer honor of being selected to join this community of brilliant young women. These 35 other intelligent and passionate women who are great friends, advice givers, and supporters have often reassured me in this journey. Additionally, the support and guidance from our generous founders have made me more confident about entering the aerospace industry. -MM

I entered the space industry as an entrepreneur before I heard about the Brooke Owens Fellowship. When I went to my first space industry conference, I was one of the few females in a room of 40+ years of age, white men. It was a bit intimidating and made me feel like the odd-one-out. After being part of the Brooke Owens Fellowship, I no longer feel like the odd-one-out, even though the room is still the same demographic landscape as when I entered the space industry. Why? I now have the backing of 35 powerful women and connections with women leaders who have made themselves a force to be reckoned with in the space industry. -MI

survoh on Reddit: “What qualities or experiences do you think made you a good fit for the program?”

Being a Propulsion Team Lead of SEDS@UCSD allowed me to experience leadership in a technical environment. I was able to work in large teams as well as go through critical thinking and design. Nevertheless, being part of the program doesn't require you to be a leader in your past experience or have a variety of skills. The most important quality that the program looks for is passion for the future of space and your willingness to participate in leading this industry. -DA

From talking to the other Brookies and the founders, I'd say the most important thing to all of us and what makes the Brookies stand out is our "Brookieness." What this means is that we all lead passionate, creative, and well-rounded existences. Being a Brookie doesn't mean having the top grades at the top schools, but being willing to be yourself and think outside of the box. Part of my application was sending in a video that I had made for my ballet final called The Lady Lunar Eclipse. It was something that I choreographed and danced by myself. I found that enjoyable and expressive experiences like this made me a good fit for the program because of how these things have taught me to find my own way of thinking and approaching problems. -JW

In my application I tried to speak to aspects and experiences that you couldn’t get from a resume. I spoke about growing up in the Marshall Islands and how the beautiful night skies shaped my love for space. I also spoke about my accidental run in with the Director General of the European Space Agency on my study abroad trip. Both were stories that are very important to me but ones that you wouldn’t know from looking at my transcript or resume! The best part of this program is all of the unique stories of why each woman is pursuing careers in the aerospace industry. -AC

Being really involved in extracurricular activities and organizations is highly valued. In particular, I'm really involved in an organization called SEDS - the Students for the Exploration and Development of SEDS. I serve as the UCF chapter's president and hosted the national conference. Even if you're not necessarily involved in a space/aerospace organization, it's great to show that you have an active involvement in your community, especially if you hold a leadership role. Also, show off your creative side! The application reviewers really appreciated the applications that were fun and imaginative. And don't inhibit your imagination at all as you write your essay or make your multimedia piece. The reviewers want to get to know you for who you really are. -SA

Personally I think it was my interest in a wide variety of interests and giving all of them my 100%. My resume didn’t list hundreds of different clubs, jobs, and organizations, but those I choose to do I was passionate about—and not all of them were about space. The selection committee sees that passion over quantity and look for a well rounded person as well as someone who loves aerospace. -JC

Showing your passion in whatever you are involved in, I believe, is a quality programs of all types look for; from the BOFP to universities to employment opportunities to volunteer positions! I did not know whether I would fit in with the Brooke Owens Fellowship because I got my degrees in environmental science, biology, and chemistry (not your typical space industry degrees). Even so, I showed my passion for astroecology and ecological system development for space habitations when I went through the application process and interviews. Now, I am a 2017 Brooke Owens Fellow and about to enter graduate school for my PhD. Show your passion, share your story, and be confident in your experiences. Doing so will get you far. -MI

For my application, I submitted an essay to the prompt "GPAs and college transcripts don’t paint a complete picture of a person. What else do we need to know about you?" and was really honest about my college journey. I have had one crazy five-year adventure including switching my major twice, declaring different minors 20 bajillion times (jk only 7 times), and taking off a year for personal growth. Being able to speak about what my transcripts should really say about me, how my passion for space never waivered through those difficult patches, was one of my favorite prompts and what I believe gave the Founders the best view into who I was. -HL

Personally, I don't find one specific quality about myself a "stand-out factor." I think what the founders saw in me and the other Brookies is the passion we all had for what we do. As previously mentioned in another comment, the founders wanted to seek out women who had a "Brookiness" quality. To me, a Brookiness quality has meant someone who visibly shows care for the world around them and making a difference in the industry, through several different avenues. At the end of the day, all the Brookies have such unique and amazing capabilities, but those are not what define them. What has brought all of us together so closely is our inherent want and drive to make the industry better than how we see it now and to sincerely contribute, in each of the individual ways that we can. I think if you show who you are in the application, that is what is most important. I'm sure you have described your participation in school and other activities, but also be sure to put your individuality in the application. Something that I found so valuable by being a Brookie was that I was not only asked to be myself, but I was accepted and valued for being myself. In a world where so many people will try and tell you what you should be (especially being a female engineer), just be yourself! -MS

Savagemanner11 on Reddit: “You say aero is like a "boys club" (which I agree with), but how does creating an exclusively female program (one might call a girls club) supposed to level the playing field? Do you want it to be a "boys and girls club" in the end?”

Good questions! A couple of points: The industry numbers as so skewed that even if every program went all female, it would take an awfully long time. For example, NASA would have to select only women for their astronaut corps for the next century or so before the gender ratio of humans who have been to space reaches 1:1. That's a bit of an extreme case, but only by a bit. But fundamentally, I think the industry will be healthiest when it approximates the demographics of society as a whole. So, something pretty close to 50/50.

For that reason, even the Fellowships themselves are only for undergraduate women, we've deliberately kept other parts of the program mixed. One of our three founders (me!) is male, as are a reasonably high percentage of our insanely awesome mentors. We also recently assisted in the creation of our first 'spin-off' program, the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program, which is open to all genders and to both undergraduate and graduate students. -WP

I don’t speak for the rest of the Fellowship, but I personally would love to eventually live in a world where all of these incredible opportunities could be coed and still represent a wide variety of the population. My dream would be that this Fellowship would skyrocket incredible young women into positions within the aerospace industry so that they then can work from the inside to change industry culture. It will also show those who believe women do not belong that they have plenty to offer. Only with a culture shift will the “boys club” attitude change and then this program wouldn’t be needed. In fact, I think it would be fantastic to see a future where Brooke Owens Fellows are men, women, and nonbinary because the culture as well as statistics show that women are equal. -JC

I wanted to add another take that will echo the other two. I believe a big reason why "minority-only" programs exist is because that is the best/fastest way to develop community amongst minorities and incentivize more minorities to enter into the field. It's not about exclusivity. Instead, think about it in terms of the ability to recruit more women/minorities into the field. With each class of fellows, each fellow becomes an example/role model for younger women that can help encourage them to enter into STEM/aerospace. If we hypothetically made the fellowship open to men and women, then we'd theoretically expect the ratio of fellows to be representative of the current state of the industry, or roughly a ratio of 4:1, male to female. That means that instead of shining the spotlight on 36 role models for younger women, we would have had about 7. Having 36 role models is going to help accelerate "leveling the playing field" a lot faster than 7, and the fact that the group of fellows is diverse in terms of race, school, geographic area, socio-economic class, that is a testament that we will be able to reach a variety of communities. This is not to say that men cannot be great role models (Will Pomerantz is a great example of that), but being able to have role models that you can relate to in even the most basic ways of gender/race provides a significantly more tangible link for one's aspirations/goals. -GN

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