((First day of college, circa Fall 2015))
Professor: "I'm going to ask everyone around the room to introduce themselves."
Students, especially me: *tired mumbling*
"...Finance major...I want to help in my parent's business...Marketing...Wall Street..."
Me: "I'm going to work in space tourism."
I got a few laughs. No, really. SpaceX wouldn't land its first booster until December 2015. Blue Origin only had ~ 400 employees (compare to ~ 2500 employees today). My hometown, Titusville, was a ghost town, NASA having finished the Shuttle Program in 2011. Everything was silent out at Cape Canaveral but, *legitimately*, I had this gut feeling that rocket ignition would shake my house again soon.
((Present day))
My name is Harper, and I am a student of Business/AstroPhysics at the University of Central Florida. The overarching goal of these studies has always been to bridge the gap between business + science. Space is going commercial, and I want to help connect a dynamic team within the industry.
The best part of studying what I do is kickstarting conversations about space. I have yet to find a businessman/woman whose eyes *don't* light up when a convo turns to recent launches or discussion about the moon/Mars. Wearing NASA t-shirts always guarantees coffee shop conversations. Space hits a childlike note in all of us.
When the Artemis missions were announced, I knew that I had the opportunity to grow a community of space-lovers, of dreamers & adventurers. I launched this blog to kickstart conversations, and I will admit - the Artemis missions bringing the first women to the moon is a catalyst.
I simply don't see the next era of exploration, in any field, as discounting people based on biological or melanin differences. We are all humans on this planet, spinning 1,600 km/hr in a vast, inky abyss.
I'm hoping that you'll subscribe to my journey. Let's connect and collaborate!
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