I was in middle school when I first came to JPL. I saw all the wonderful spacecraft models like Voyager and Cassini. I was inspired by these achievements.

But what inspired me the most was seeing the Curiosity Mars Rover being built in the clean room. I knew that one day I want to work at JPL. And interning at JPL is a first step to becoming a full-time employee here. JPL is what has inspired me to become an aerospace engineer.

TAGS: #InspiredBy, Student Stories, Curiosity, Internships & Fellowships

• ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  William Lopez-Cordero, Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  William Lopez-Cordero studies aerospace engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He interned at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the summer of 2014, developing new software architecture to model spacecraft operations.