This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/10/2017 08:30 AMNorth Haven High School junior Shoaib Nahas has always enjoyed math, science, and technology, and he recently got to be involved in a program that gave him the opportunity to put his knowledge to the test by undergoing the same training simulations as NASA astronauts.
Shoaib was among 320 students from 45 countries and 27 U.S. states and territories who were accepted into the Honeywell Leadership Academy Challenge for 2017, which offers opportunities to children of employees (Shoaib’s dad works at Honeywell).
The online application for the program looked for more than just science ability.
“It consisted of two essays and one description of your community service [and] leadership positions that you’ve held,” Shoaib says, “I got accepted, so it gave me the opportunity to visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and Leadership Academy Challenge program.”
Math and space exploration are two things that Shoaib really likes, and has liked those subjects since a young age.
“I used to read many articles and books about space exploration and sci-fi,” says Shoaib, “Those are things that really interested me, so that’s the reason I actually applied to this program.”
The activities in the program were STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) based, but Shoaib says the idea was to instill leadership and communication skills while training like an astronaut as well.
“They had many astronaut simulations, like 4G, a moonwalk, things like that,” Shoaib says, “We got to listen to a few speeches by former astronauts.”
One of the activities Shoaib liked the most was that he and other students got to build and launch their own small rocket. He says it was like a competition, and students were divided into teams of eight or nine.
Shoaib says that two people would work on the design, two people worked on the engineering and two people worked on the programming. He said it was nice seeing everyone doing their own thing to make the project successful.
“Our team did pretty well,” Shoaib says.
In addition to his enjoyment of the activities and topics, he says that one of his favorite parts was meeting and interacting with other people from other parts of the world and getting a feel for their different mindsets.
One thing that was on Shoaib’s application for the program was examples of community services and leadership. He has completed 250 hours of community service, with many of those coming from the New Haven Free Public Library, where he manages a chess club that focuses on strengthening students’ approach to learning.
“We have these puzzles that we set up, and the puzzles focus on trying to make students understand and double-up on their learning power,” Shoaib says, “That’s something that I came up with.”
He also tutored a student for a time.
“She ended up [doing] pretty well, so that was successful,” Shoaib says.
Currently a junior at the high school, Shoaib has begun looking at colleges. Though he’s undecided where he wants to go right now, he says that science and technology is definitely something he is considering for his major.
“Computer science is something that really interests me, artificial intelligence, things like that,” says Shoaib, “I think there’s a very good scope in the future.”
Shoaib says he would encourage anyone to get involved with programs like the one he experienced. He says there are so many students out there who have a potential for leadership, and adds that it’s crucial they get the exposure they need.
“I think more and more programs like this must be there that can help students get that exposure and use their skills, which is very important,” says Shoaib, “I really thank Honeywell and NASA for giving me this opportunity.”
The week-long program ran twice from Feb. 25 to March 10 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) in Huntsville, Alabama.
Since its launch in 2010, Honeywell, in partnership with the USSRC, has awarded more than 2,090 scholarships to students to attend space camp. For more information about the program, visit http://leadership.honeywell.com.