2 days Ago By Debra Strong
Kimiora Broadbridge had the opportunity to be part of the United States Space Camper Program. The 16-year-old who attends Suva Grammar School participated with Mikel Fareed in the program at the US Space and Rock Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The program inspires and engages youth through real-world applications of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Kaila!’s Acting Deputy Editor, Debra Strong had an opportunity to sit with her for a Q&A session after returning to Fiji. Q: Before this program, what did you want to become? I wanted to do something in the medical field, but I was stuck between engineering and medicine. Q: How did you find out about the program? We actually found out about it a day before the applications closed.
My mum saw it on Facebook, and we decided to make the video around midnight – it was due at midday the next day. It was a very long and hard process because I was really tired and kept stuttering, but I’m glad that I did it. Q: Do you feel like you had a full understanding of what the opportunity was? Not really, I had like a lot of questions, what did it involve, what would we do, who I would go with, the reason why as I’d only ever heard about it once, so it was really new to me.
Q: What did you think of these subjects when you started to learn a little bit more about STEM? It’s definitely not easy. It takes a lot of time and dedication. Since I am a pure science student and I take physics, which is a tough subject, it definitely pushes you and challenges you, but the biggest challenges give out the biggest rewards so I’m glad that I’m taking it on.
Q: What was the whole experience like for you? It was definitely long and tiring, getting from one flight to another, but I was really glad when I got there that people were really friendly. I made friends pretty quickly and I got really close to people during that one week. Q: How many other participants were there? There were a lot! I think over 100.
In my team there were 16 of us and it was really cool to meet someone from Montreal and there were three people from Italy. The rest were from like all over America. It was really cool to meet people from different backgrounds, speaking different languages.
Q: Who did you go with from here? I went with Mikel – we went for the scholarship. Q: Were there any more kids from the Pacific? No, not that I know of. Q: What was the highlight – what would you say was the coolest thing that happened on the trip and why? We had a three-hour mission, I think the mission was based on going to Mars, I’m not entirely sure but basically, we had a job to fix parts of the spaceship.
Another boy from Italy and myself wore these spacesuits, they strapped us in. We had a harness on, and we had to fix stuff, they had a big mission, and we had to fix the spaceship. We had to move back-and-forth, and we were like dangling from the ceiling.
It was really cool. Basically, we were experiencing what astronauts do when they fix satellites. That was definitely a really cool experience.
The other cool thing I did was scuba diving. It was my first ever time to do that even though I live in the Pacific. It was a really fun and cool experience which took place inside a big tank at the US Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville, Alabama.
Another was zip lining; it was really hard climbing a 20 or 30 metre ladder. There were so many things, too many to mention. Q: What surprised you the most on this trip, whether it was about yourself or just what you saw? It was the food.
It’s completely different from what we eat here. Sometimes for breakfast we had fried chicken, we never have that here for breakfast, you’ll get the telling off from your mum. Also, the fact that people there are so energetic, and very willing.
I think that happens here as well but when we had to do the ladder climbing and the pamper-pool activity, there were so many people that were looking for it which I found really odd, because from my personal experience, here there’s a lot of people afraid of heights so they wouldn’t have done it but with that kind of support system and everyone around you wanting to do it really like pushes you. That was one activity that I really enjoyed as well. Q: Pamper pull? It’s basically like this log, like a tree.
It has these metal stairs which connects to it, and you have to climb all the way up and jump off, that was definitely a challenge. What made it even scarier was that you don’t realise that you’re shaking, so the log would shake too and when you try to hold on to the top to try and stabilise it, the piece on the top would spin. You would have to try and stand on that in order to jump off.
It was cool but very scary as well. Q: How did you feel once you jumped off? When I reached the top, I just couldn’t get on because it was spinning so much. So, I just asked them to bring me down but I’m glad that I did it, I can say that I reached the top.
It was really scary cause when you’re looking from the ground, it doesn’t seem that high, but when you’re up there, you can see the mountains and everything around you, it’s so different. Q: Has this experience changed how you feel about the STEM subjects you were already learning? It definitely did, we actually learnt more about physics, which I can say was one of the subjects that I kind of struggled with at school because it’s so complex. A lot of stuff that has to do with space involves physics.
We had to build a rocket ship, it was a small one, but it took a lot of time and effort and just watching how it like shoots into space. You learn about force and pressure and a lot of new things that I’ve never heard about here. Q: How do you feel about physics now? I feel like it is a very tough subject, and I doubt that I will be taking it up in university but it’s good to learn about stuff now.
My dad also did physics. He is a pilot, so when I went there, I sort of had an idea of how rocket ships work, the system inside because it’s very similar to what my dad has been telling my siblings and I. Q: Would you do it again? Definitely! I would definitely do it again and I definitely recommend it to other students.
Try and apply for it, it really is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was really hard because it was only a week-long trip and it was non-stop, especially with the time differences but I would definitely do it again. I met so many people from different places and different backgrounds.
You know hearing the southern accents and the people are really friendly, they don’t judge, I thought the people we met were really nice. Q: Apart of the friends you’ve made, who else would you say was memorable to meet? We met an astronaut, Christopher Sembroski, he was the first commercial astronaut to orbit the Earth. He showed us pictures of him in space that he took on his phone.
That’s something you never see, someone’s images of space from their phone. It was so clear. When it’s taken on a camera it doesn’t seem real but when you look at photos taken on an actual phone that’s just different.
He explained how it was very different, since there isn’t any gravity when you go to space you actually grow taller by, I think three inches but when you come back to Earth you go back to your normal height. Q: What was the motivation behind you deciding – fine, I’ll, go for it? I guess it was just my family. Everyone was telling me, you know, you’re not going to regret this, and it’s eye-opening.
Personally, I wasn’t very interested in like space before because I know it’s a very scary thing, and there’s so many things that could go wrong, but being there and learning about the procedures that they have to do, and their training and going through that whole process, it really makes you wonder how people actually have the guts to risk their lives and do it so people here on Earth can learn more and understand things about space. Q: Do you think we know enough about the work that goes on in space? Definitely not! There are so many things that I’ve learnt there that I have never read about or seen anywhere – even online. I most certainly never met an astronaut so that was a new thing.
I think people should put in the effort to learn more about what’s going on around us, especially with climate change and global warming, there’s so many things that we’re missing out on that people don’t realise. It’s really important. I think for teenagers it’s something that everyone should know and learn more about and understand.
Especially in the Pacific since it is affecting us a lot. Q: What are some of the things that were new that you learnt on this trip? There are a lot of things you learn about, you learn about the first missions, current missions and what’s going on in space right now. There are so many achievements as well.
The USA and Russia are constantly sending people up to space and we had a debate on how everyone should be able to go into space. I didn’t get that topic, so I stayed out of the debate because it got me thinking, in the Pacific we’re still developing, there’s still so much we don’t know, but there’s people that don’t even pay attention to it, and there’s not much talk about space here, you don’t see it in the newspapers on what’s happening in space right now, or any other updates. It’s kind of sad because I know so many who have dreamed about going to space and experiencing that, but we don’t really have enough of that kind of information so it’s really hard to understand more about it.
Q: How do you think us Fijians will do in space? Do you think we’d make good astronauts? Honestly, I think we will, I feel like we’d have a lot more fun if we send Pacific islanders to space. I feel like instead of space walking we’d be dancing or trying to play volleyball or something like that on the moon. Q: What do you think of this program being available for the people of the Pacific Islands? I feel that it’s a really good opportunity.
I’m so grateful for this experience and I know there’s so many more students that would be interested. I will continuously encourage people to apply for scholarships like these because it’s very helpful. People think that it’s just based on physics and science, but it’s actually linked with so many other subjects like tech and engineering.
There are even computer studies which we do in Fiji. Everybody plays a role. We know when someone is sent into space, it’s not just the engineers or the pilots, it’s everyone working together.
I feel like in Fiji, astronomy and space science should be taken seriously because when it’s not it discourages a lot of people, because people just think that it is not possible when that is not true. Nothing is impossible and anything can happen if you just put your mind to it. Q: What would you say to other students out there that want to apply, but are a little afraid of the unknown? I feel like the biggest mistake you can make is not trying.
When you try it out and put your mind to something and take a risk – that could be the greatest reward. Personally, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to get this scholarship, but I prayed every single day. It’s faith and actions, which is what my parents tell me every day so, nothing is impossible.
There are so many things you can learn in just one week of going somewhere and learning about different things and different people. And it’s very important because if you don’t take a chance, you probably will never get that opportunity again. Q: How did you get selected? I actually have no idea.
I’ve asked my mum that question a billion times but for my video I didn’t want to read-off a piece of paper. I’ve done some speaking before, but my parents basically gave me advice on how I should speak and what I should say. And honestly, I wasn’t really sure that I would get it because I’ve heard there’s so many people that apply for it so what are the odds? I was really shocked that I got it.
It was just really interesting. I’m glad that I got to meet new people and experience this. Q: What was that moment like when you found out that you got it? I came back from basketball training after school and I was in the car when my dad just pulled out his phone and was like, oh here look.
I read the email, and I was so shocked. I was screaming in the car because I couldn’t believe what was happening. I’m just glad that I applied for it.
I’m glad that I had the confidence and the support system – my family. I prayed every single day, so I give this all back to God. Q: Do you feel like you’re a different person after that trip? Yes, definitely.
Even after meeting people, you see how they’ve been brought up. It’s so shocking to meet new people with different backgrounds. I didn’t ever think that I was going to meet students from Italy and Montreal.
It was really fun. Q: Did it surprise you to learn about the many different roles and career paths there are in space? I was really shocked. Before I went in, they were giving us a brief on the mission and everything, but I didn’t think they’d be so many people that come together.
I kind of feel sorry for those who work behind the scenes because when someone goes into space, they only take photos of the pilots and the astronauts but there are so many other people who work behind the scenes to make sure everything is all right. Those people should be acknowledged more. They work many hours through sleepless nights and when it finally pays off, they get thanked but behind the scenes.
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