Another Day, Another Flight.

One trip down, five more to go before the end of the year. I am exhausted already, but this is what I have always wanted. Moving forward these trips won’t be coming out of my own pocket. All expenses paid, first class is on the way baby!

I am at Tampa airport currently waiting to board my 6 am flight to Atlanta for the Stem Success Summit. Man I wish this app had spell check. It’s never been my strong point. Words are hard. Words are especially hard when you’re speaking in Houston at a convention in front of NASA!

I did that! Last week. I can’t believe I still haven’t written about this yet. I am still coming down from the high. I need to learn how to relish in these moments because my impatient ass imediately got home ready to pack up and move to Cape Canaveral the next day. It all comes in time though. That doesn’t mean I am not going to push. I know myself better than that. The only difference is I have learned the strategy to pushing. I don’t push from a place of anxiety anymore. I push when necessary to get the ball rolling. There are a lot of balls out there that have been stagnant for too long. So when you feel the need to push don’t second guess that feeling. Pushing is what gets doors opened. Pushing is what gets you into rooms you might not otherwise be where all the opprotunities lie.

I pushed a lot last week. The first day I was in Houston there was a tour of NASA that was sold out. I knew what time and where the bus was leaving from. So I got there early and waited in line like I was one of the people who had already signed up. I gave the woman my named and she was so confused when she couldn’t find my name on the list but there were so many people behind me so she said “Just go ahead, we have two extra seats on the bus anyways. We will figure it out later.” And that my friends is how I landed a VIP tour of NASA in Houston for FREE. Manifestation baby!

Going to NASA was surreal. It felt like being at a place I had known my whole life while simultaneously holding the excitement of my first time. Walking in to mission control was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. I couldn’t escape the feeling that I was home. This is where I belong.

The rest of the week wasn’t as smooth sailing. I was the present my masters thesis on Friday at 2 pm and it was only Wednesday. I was so nervous to give this presentation I ignored creating relationships with anyone around me. I worked out every morning and spent the days writing my script and practicing. I hadn’t realized before this week that I was to present in the main session room, otherwise known as The Legends Ballroom. I could’t help but think ‘this is where I will become a legend’. You know, because in my head my life is a movie and I am just trying to give the people something worth rooting for.

I have never been so nervous in my entire life. I was presenting in front of people from every company/agency I could ever dream of working for. NASA, Axiom, SpaceX, you name a company involved in space and they were there. I got up and I read my entire script, word for word. I am pretty sure I read my own name off the paper. That’s how nervous I was. I finished and people had questions. Thank god they had questions. I was able to show I actually knew my research and I wasn’t just a robot reading from a piece of paper.

I finished. They clapped. Then I proceeded to get extremely wasted. I hadn’t allowed myself to drink in Houston until I gave that presentation and once I was finished I was going to celebrate. Three espresso martini’s and four mezcals later my feet were killing me and it was cold out. Plus it was close to two and I was exhausted so it was time to go back to the hotel.

I walked into the hotel and in typical drunk Katie fashion I had to do one last stroll around the lobby to see if anyone I knew was around. I turned towards the bar and immediately there were two gentleman sitting there as if they had been waiting for me.

“Hey! Come over here, let us buy you a drink!” I couldn’t say no.

“An espresso martini please!”

The two men worked for NASA.

They had seen my presentation. They were interested in my research. They said something along the lines of “We need more innovative people like you on our team.” During my presentation I made a joke about being a cosmetologist, not cosmologist for ten years and one of the men said “I knew when you compared the martian regolith colors to a color palatte for make up you were our girl.” Or something like that, remember how many drinks deep I was at this point. Honestly, thank god I was. Otherwise I might not have had the balls to point out one of the men’s canadien tuxedo and mullet. To know me is to know my love of mullets and denim.

Anyways, we ended the night. I went back to my room and when I woke up in the morning I had no idea what either of their names were! I had to find them. This fated moment could not be ruined by my drunken brain fog. So I messaged the conference channel.

“To the gentleman from NASA who bought me a drink in the lobby last night: I don’t have your contact information. Find me on LinkedIn/email me.”

It worked!