Photo by History in HD on Unsplash.
I always dreamed big. I grew up watching planes fly over San Francisco International Airport, glued to the terminal windows overlooking the runways. I felt a rush when those behemoth mechanical structures took off. For the longest time, I knew I wanted to be a pilot.
My obsession led to countless hours doodling in sketchbooks—designs of a personal aircraft I'd eventually build on my own. I pulled my blueprints from paper and used Legos as my constructive medium. I captured payloads that would eject from the hatch of my spacecraft while I simulated orbit with my hands. I thought, how cool would it be to live and work in space?
NASA was my goal. But boy, was it difficult.
I went to a community college in a rural farming town in Northern California, where I studied Computer Science. I applied to NASA for two straight years via the OSTEM program. I was rejected every time. To say I felt frustrated would be an understatement. Every night, I'd step into my backyard and stare into the dark sky above. The Moon illuminated the corner of my eye, while the stars slowly peeked out as my vision adjusted. Those stars felt so distant, but a comfortable warmth enveloped me when I stared back. Even though my heart ached with each rejection, it felt as if the universe was telling me to keep going.
I worked hard in school. Attending college during the pandemic gave me a lot of time to build personal projects and beef up my resume. I fell in love with science fiction and imagined how I could program computers to see the world around me. I taught myself computer vision and built goofy projects to test my programming skills. Eventually, I received offers as a Regents Scholar at UC Davis and admission into EECS at UC Berkeley. But that was only the beginning of my journey.
I transferred to UC Davis in September 2021 and almost immediately took a leave of absence that December.
School wasn't my cup of tea. While I knew I had to finish eventually, this was the first time in my life I had the freedom to pursue my dream of working at NASA. Except... I didn't.
I applied to the OSTEM program once more and received an offer to join NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center as a Computer Vision intern that summer. However, when life gives you one opportunity, it often gives you more. I had already accepted multiple offers to work at my other dream company—Genentech. It's weird how life works sometimes. I spent nine months working in Genentech's famous gRED and MSAT groups virtually from South San Francisco (a post for another time). While those were some of the most amazing experiences of my life, I still had one goal: get into NASA (again).
I applied to OSTEM again for the Fall 2022 term. I woke up at 7:40 AM on a random Thursday morning in August with an inkling and an email: "Welcome to NASA!" I jumped out of bed with excitement and ran to the living room, where my dad was doing his morning yoga. I yelled that I had gotten into NASA. Unlike the first time, this one felt real. I finally had the realization that I could live my dream. I pushed school off for another quarter and joined NASA's Kennedy Space Center, working as a Space Systems Engineering intern on the ISRU Pilot Excavator—a rover designed to mine minerals from the Moon's surface. It was a full-circle moment: all those nights spent staring at the stars led to me being part of the Artemis era.
So, what's the answer? How can you get a NASA internship? A lot of grit and luck—but calculated luck. I didn't interview for my role at NASA. My resume was selected from a pool of over 200 candidates. That's a 0.5% chance. I eventually asked my mentor why he chose me over everyone else. He said he loved the projects and experiences on my resume. I had never done Systems Engineering before, but the way I communicated my interests showed I was curious, committed, and ready to learn.
My advice? Regardless of how many rejections you receive, stay committed. Build projects that light you up. Document your work online. Reach out to mentors. Make your passion impossible to ignore. The path to NASA isn't linear—and it's rarely easy—but if you keep pushing, your stars will align.
Resources for your own outreach
If you are preparing to contact a researcher, use my cold email templates for professors and internships. For the next step in a research career, explore my PhD application toolkit and PhD opportunities directory.