I continue to be in Alabama

All the organization folks (there's a giant team of 'em) are super stressed out in the last week before the Research Assistants (or Academites, as I'll be calling them) arrive. There's so much to do from buying plane tickets to arranging for food to making sure we get everyone checked in, and so very very much more. But I have the utmost confidence (as I keep telling the admin team) in the MSFC Academy. We can do it, and it will be great.

There is a slight difference of opinions in some basic underlying principles of the Academy. The MSFC folks are being torn between trying to make their own unique summer experience and taking the sage advice of the tried-and-true Goddard and Ames Academies. A GSFC alumnus and myself are trying very hard to keep with the true spirit of the NASA Academy program, developing leaders for the future of the space program.

Being in the NAA2004 was like being on a reality show without so many cameras. You felt very special all the time, like you really earned this place, and you were being given these incredible experiences in exchange for your future dedication to space. The directors and staff did such a great job that three of us from the Ames Academy last summer are staffing the other three Academies (Goddard, Glenn, and Marshall) this year (Ames was cancelled due to lack of funding).

I hope we can make Marshall be that inspiring. That's what my summer will be focused on.

But for now I'm alone in Alabama (until a friendly face gets here tomorrow to help me settle in...). Saturday the RAs start rolling in, and it'll be time to get this thing started for real. Rock on.