Jaime working hard at NASA
	One of the Guys? One of her professors told her she would have a hard time surviving in a male-dominated field. "It was the first time that it even occurred to me that it may be an issue. My mom taught me that I could do anything I want to do if I work hard enough at it. So, I just put my head down and worked until I achieved my goal." It turns out that Jaime loves absolutely everything about working for NASA. And, bonus: she met her fiancé during the internship. "As a girl, you've kind of got the pick of the litter," she grins. "There's a great male to female ratio." Jaime adds that because of the female pioneers who paved the way before her, she didn't find it as difficult as she thought she would to be a woman in the male-dominated culture of space science.

Cheerleader Turns Rocket Scientist!
Finding the "Right" Career

by Monica Shah, Staff Writer

This cheerleader tried out for the Laker Girls and snagged one of the 16 finalist spots, but then dropped out to become a NASA scientist!

Finding Interests

Jaime was a high school cheerleader for both the boys' and girls' basketball teams. "Cheerleading drew me out of my shell" observes Jaime, who maintains she was the reserved, quiet type when she was a teenager. Off the courts, what really sparked her enthusiasm was an eighth grade teacher who taught her class about space exploration. "He made the whole concept of space science very real and relevant. I learned that it's important to continue to explore space—and that it was something I could do." This passion led her to explore engineering while at college

Going to College

In college, Jamie found herself just one of three girls out of 90 students in her core engineering classes. "I became pretty well known" says Jaime. "All the engineers knew who the three of us were." To help pay her tuition, Jaime also worked as a waitress. Although Jaime's demanding schedule didn't allow for many extra curricular activities, she did find time to coach high school cheerleaders.

Discovering NASA

While waiting tables, Jaime met someone who told her about an internship at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) at NASA. And so she applied. "After all," Jamie explains, "my mom always told me I should be an astronaut."

Deciding a Dream

Meanwhile, her background in cheerleading led Jaime to try out for the Laker Girls Cheerleading quad. She was in the "final cuts" phase when she realized that by pursuing cheerleading, she would have to relinquish her dream of being a scientist at NASA. "Being a part of the cheer squad in high school was one of my best memories," reflects Jaime. "But space engineering was a real career." Jaime withdrew from the Laker Girl competition and went on to JPL.

A Space Cheerleader?

Today, Jaime works at JPL full time. "Actually traveling to outer space myself doesn't interest me; instead I get to develop the robots that go into space," she explains. "The things I really enjoy about engineering," she says, "are that I am allowed to tap into both my creative and analytical sides at the same time!" It turns out Jaime is a cheerleader of sorts after all–except that the "sport" she gets people excited about is space engineering!