“Adero has been a great influence on my life over the last few months. Having gone through many of the things I am going through now himself, Adero is a source of knowledge and calm as I make big decisions about my future. As a graduating senior looking to pursue a Ph.D., he has been mostly helping me with the graduate school admission process. From choosing programs to apply to, mock interviews, helping with personal statements, and talking through my options, Adero has been flexible in providing me support when I need it in any way he can. Since meeting Adero, I can say that I’ve gained confidence in the choices I’ve made and have improved the way I think through difficult decisions. I am looking forward to continuing to work with him over the next few months.”

– Katie Groenhout

“When I received my acceptance from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF), I was most excited about it because I wanted to join a worldwide community that loves STEM as much as I do. I have met astronauts, test pilots, entrepreneurs, and scientists I aspire to be like, one of those individuals being my ASF mentor, Brewster Shaw. He has opened my eyes to what it takes to become an astronaut, and he has done nothing but support and advocate for me. His encouragement has meant a lot to me as I am the first in my family to pursue a STEM career. I had always dreamt of being an astronaut since I was a little kid, and to now have the chance to learn from an astronaut has been remarkable. Anybody can look up eligibility requirements to become an astronaut, but there are certain intangibles that you simply cannot search on the internet for. I have learned most from Brewster the common mindset and characteristics of selected astronauts; his advice and encouragement will hold prevalence for the rest of my life as I pursue this career path.

Because of Astronaut Scholarship, I can pursue my private pilot’s license as it has always been a dream of mine to fly. My dream as a kid was that I wanted to be Superman. However, as an adult, I found the next best thing; to explore the world as a test pilot and explore the worlds beyond ours as an astronaut.

The Astronaut Scholarship is more than a scholarship. It is an invitation to a life-long community that helps encourage and provide the means for students to pursue their dreams in STEM. Thank you ASF for helping me pursue my dreams of flight and adventure.”

– Britain Steele

“Among many great things Jason offered me, I most benefited from his honest and experience-derived advice when making tough decisions about graduate school and other life events.”

– Roberto Peralta

“As my 2nd year as ASF scholar mentor, I have been part of a mentor/mentee relationship with Roberto Peralta, which has been extremely rewarding, on my front to coach him through his senior design project as he works through project management challenges typically faced in the industry. The weekly engagement via zoom, email, and phone enabled us to collaborate and share my 20 years expertise in the aerospace industry and enabled his increase of confidence to lead to a successful project. As the world continues establishing post-COVID social norms, Roberto and I had significant conversations on how to navigate work/life and school/life balance as those are tightly coupled. Those conversations provided insight for Roberto to better navigate the remaining of the school year along with providing outsider perspective on what people expect in future workforce. Lastly, Roberto and I had conversations about his future aspirations in terms of continuing education or entry to the workforce. As part of my mentorship, I am proud of Roberto, of his accomplishments in his senior year at University of Arizona, and his bright future to continue his biomedical reach aspiration at Case Western University. I know he will continue to do great things in the future, and significantly benefits from the ASF in both financial and mentorship support.”

– Jason Pugsley