AVID Article Reflection

The AVID weekly article "Reaching for the Stars" not only talks about the Astronomy departments in the U.S., but also the general idea of changing the lives of others. The students working in the astronomy departments and doing jobs that they could have forgone and made much more money, are changing our lives every day. With the help of them, we have been able to learn about distant galaxies and discover the possibility of life on other planets.

The Hubble Telescope is one of the most important aspects of scientific research of all time. There is nothing more advanced than such a machine orbiting earth with the ability to capture light images of planets and stars across the universe. Without a machine as influential to scientists throughout the world, we would have no idea what is out in space, and no way of finding out.

The last time I can remember changing the live of someone else was when I worked with the GHS soccer team at the Westchester Triathlon. The race benefits cancer research and is a huge donor to this cause. My team and I were at the bottom of a huge hill called "Claire's Climb" that is one of the greatest obstacles of the course. Claire's Climb was part of the biking section and it honestly seemed to go on forever. We stood to the side of the hills with cowbells cheering for over 2000 bike riders. All the riders were so thankful of people cheering them on I really felt like I was making each and every one of their days. The hill was truly a huge obstacle and with our help there was not one rider who did not make it. The last rider was far behind everyone else and we made a tunnel for her to ride through and cheered her all the way up the hill as we ran after her. I don't think I have ever seen someone smile so big. She was obviously having a difficult time and we made the time much easier for her.

Without the same numbers of science graduates in the U.S., we may fall behind in the field. We will not have the same effect on the world as we have now with the Hubble Telescope. If the second Hubble is revoked, we may never know what is out there, and average people would never be able to get pictures of our universe as we can now. This would be a huge dilemma for many learning astronomy.