So my days got a little off by me posting my thoughts from last night and early this morning. A lot happened tonight so let’s talk about that real quick. I went to meet Robert and Anthony and we went downstairs and everyone was a bit awkward. And I was worried. The girls were standing in the corner talking and I was worried they wouldn’t like me. I met my roommate, Sian! She is so great. And things started moving and we ate dinner and I just kept faking it. You all know I am pretty bubbly when I am excited and in my element. I was excited but definitely not in my element. But I know how it feels so once I caught a little glimmer of that feeling I started faking it. Until I wasn’t faking it anymore. We had a GREAT conversation at dinner (Robert, Anthony, Sian, and Priya) about cool space things and shows and why humans need to go to space. Priya is, you guessed it, amazing. We then sat in a circle and Jason and Chris (the leaders of PoSSUM) told us about what we were going to be doing this week. Guys. Hold onto your hats. It is going to be awesome.
Jason discussed why PoSSUM was unique. It is a citizen scientist program. He is all about public funding, education, and true citizen scientists. He went on this long rant that filled my heart with a world where scientists are the role models and get sponsored and treated with as much prestige as jocks or celebrities. WHY AREN’T WE LIVING THIS NOW? Come on society. The amount of passion and excitement I saw around the room was… unparalleled. The other thing Jason talked about was how international this program was. A strong partnership with the Canadian Space Agency, 43 countries represented in the entire program, and my PoSSUM class (#1902, look it up!) has the first Brazilian possumnaut! His name is Rodrigo and he is ridiculously tall. But he takes the best selfies.
I met many other people too, but I hope to talk about them in future posts. I am so excited. The energy is electric, and I am taking my place in the center of it all. Just doing my Bailey things. I am not the smartest in the room. I am not the tallest (that is Rodrigo). I am not the most athletic. But I am the most Bailey. Tonight was exactly what I hoped it would be and I am so relieved and excited to be on this journey.
And I have to go work out at 6:00 AM... grumble grumble... I'm looking at you Anthony!