Opportunity

I'm taking the next few days off to attend my very first astronomy conference. As I was driving there, I was struck by an immense sense of gratefulness that I have the opportunity to do something like this. I mean, in some countries, women aren't even allowed to drive cars, let alone attend a scientific conference.

I've also been blessed with time in the SF Bay Area - it was there that I cut my teeth as a budding amateur astronomer. Like everything else, the environment you "grow" up in strongly shapes your future "self". I was fortunate enough to have had many very nice people take me under their wing. That's one thing that's truly amazing about astronomers - once it gets dark enough, we are all equally insignificant under the majesty that is the night sky. Yes, there were some cantankerous observers but the huge majority of them were incredibly helpful to newbies. I remember the exact moment when I ceased being a newbie. There were a bunch of us gathered at a California park waiting for the skies to get dark enough and for our scopes to cool. It was an iffy night - there were some thick clouds moving in rapidly. Eventually it got dark enough that the brighter stars should have become visible. Indeed, there was exactly one star showing through a tiny break in the clouds. I remember thinking, "Oh, that's Vega so my first target should be that-a-way". And when the clouds parted, my first observing target was exactly where I expected it to be. It wasn't under much later when I realized how in-tune I was with the night sky at the time. I got that way because the other observers in my group, some of whom have been observing for longer than I've been alive, nurtured my interest with tips, technique and lore. You're going to laugh but I don't know most of them in the light - I only know their voices, their silhouette and of course, their instruments.

I was also fortunate enough to have been peripherally involved with the Mars Expedition Rover missions. It wasn't anything glamourous - I was just a docent at the Mars Centre at NASA Ames. I was there at Ames for the second rover, Opportunity's landing on Mars. Actually, my entire family is on there - we submitted our names (nice PR gimmick, NASA!) prior to the launch and we're encoded on this disc on both rovers. Besides being involved in public outreach, the really cool part was that we got to peek behind the curtain every now and then to see what the actual mission teams were doing. After all, the applications we're showing the public are the same ones that the mission planners are using. It was truly exciting to be able to view the latest photographs from the rovers, practically the moment they hit the servers. When the newspapers reported some stunning photo the rovers have taken, we had already viewed it - in its full resolution, on an extremely large screen. I had to leave that position when I returned to Canada. It's one of the things I really missed about California. I also got to listen to Arthur C. Clarke live over a satellite link during an astrobiology talk at Ames. That was a treat!

I'm fortunate enough to be able to pursue my M.Sc. in Astronomy part-time. Not too many people can do that financially. There's still a chance I won't have enough money to finish it. I hope I can though.

Most of all, these days I also have a supportive family. That alone is worth everything else listed here - if you don't have family support, things get incredibly hard. I'm fortunate enough to have people who love me enough to help me grow (thanks, sis!)

Lastly, I got a chance to hold and examine pieces of Mars and Vesta (asteroid) today. No amount of studying will bring that closeness, the "a-ha, so *that's* what they mean by _____" as actually holding a sample in your hand and seeing the real thing with your own eyes. That was nifty.

I know I'm fortunate to have had all these opportunities. I feel truly blessed to have had these opportunities. *This* is why I do outreach and education. Now, I'm hoping to create similiar opportunities for others when I can, if I can because I feel it's the *right* thing to do.