I recently got offered an internship with NASA. I am in 9th grade currently. The internship would be for 6 weeks, for 6 hours a day during the summer. It is a big commitment, and I’m not sure if it is worth it to take it. I also haven’t really done any volunteer work, so I want to know if it would be better to focus on community service or this internship?
It is a great honor to be offered the NASA internship. Where will you live? Is there any housing subsidy? My S did a NASA internship for 10 or 12 weeks after his JR year of college in Electrical Engineering. He had to live in Newport News, VA and rent an apartment there. He did find it interesting and worthwhile and it counted toward his job experience when he interviewed for jobs. They credited that summer as a year of work experience.
If you and your family can afford it, I think it’s a great opportunity and would encourage you to carefully consider accepting. You can do volunteer community service before and after your internship. Most volunteer positions are pretty flexible and just happy to have you.
What exactly would you be doing? Sounds like a great opportunity to me for someone just completing their first year of HS.
Is this internship something you want to do? If it is something that interests you then it is absolutely worth it. If you are looking to just check a box then try and fund something you want to do.
I’d jump at it. NASA is my D’s first choice for college internship but its so selective she’ll not get her hopes up.
I’ll be programming, mainly.
We have a HS intern working for my dept and they are very glad to be here. If you are apathetic about it don’t do it. There are a lot of people who are dying for the chance. The lady that sits next to me started as an intern at NASA at 16 and is still here 30 years later.
Take a look at some of the other NASA internship threads here on CC. These opportunities are VERY rare and highly sought after.
Congratulations!
May I ask how did you had the chance to receive this invitation? As a 9th grader how did you learned programming at such a level to be working with NASA
Hey! I will actually be in a similar position as you next year. I’m actually a rising senior who is set to intern with NASA sometime after I graduate high school and am likely expect to start working with them right after college. I actually got to participate in a NASA class in Earth System Science that allowed me to create professional connections with them and will be attending the summer academy this Saturday. I’m definitely grateful for the fact NASA has pretty much secured me a career at the age of 16, so long as I keep my end of the baragin and keep in contact with them throughout the rest of high school and college, and I think that having a NASA internship is definitely a rare and exciting opportunity. I was actually talking to one of the NASA program coordinators one day and she had said that me participating in the program gives me an advantage over many future internship applicants since they usually try to look for people who’ve had prior connections to NASA first, so if you haven’t had any prior connection that’s even more rare. So I would say to definitely take this opportunity as more than just something to check off on your “college app” list, because this really does extend beyond college and could just be a potential jumpstart to your career.
Also, if you wanted to know a little more about what we’re doing at NASA Langley (Newport News) next week, it’s pretty much a one-week academy that will take us through the creation of our very own mock NASA mission. They want us to get a grasp of what it’d be like to be go through the motions, so they’re having us “apply” for certain positions in within our mission such as mission leader and satellite orbital calculations manager. We’re also going to present our PowerPoint on the garbage gyres in the Pacific Ocean since we had chosen to work on the issue of Global Pollution. Overall, it’s definitely going to be a great experience.
If you happen to live in Virginia, by the way, you could also participate in a similar program to mine. PM me if you want more details.
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