Space Camp

Hi, my name is Anita. I'm 15 years old and I was born with a genetic condition called NF1 that caused a tumour to grow on my optic nerve which led to my visual impairment.  Last month I had the awesome privilege of attending Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. I first found out about Space Camp when I was 9 years old and fell in love with the idea of meeting new people, going to Disney and experiencing the endless opportunities the camp has to offer.  We had 7 people who went from Melbourne, five students and two staff members. 

The program went for two weeks, however the actual NASA Space Camp went for only one. Every year, NASA holds a week-long program called SCIVIS tailored specifically for blind and visually impaired children. Students aged between 9 - 18 are welcome to apply. My submission was an application stating why I want to go and a few other details like the country I come from, what I enjoy about science and how my visual impairment has impacted me. After I submitted the form, it was sent to The Lighthouse Foundation and I was lucky enough to be given a donation, which funded a huge chunk of my trip. 

A few highlights from the first week included going to Walmart, conquering fears at Disneyland, trying a corn dog and making memories for life. The second week was action packed, full of fun space themed activities. A few of my favourites that helped me build up friendships were lots of team/group work, discussions and fun activities like rock climbing and pampa pole which is a large, tall pole that's 60 feet tall. The way to get a goal is to climb up these horse-shoe shaped staples. One thing they don't tell you is the platform up top is wobbly and the size of an iPad. Even though I got to the very top but couldn't pull myself up, I was proud that I gave it a go and my team was supporting me the whole way through. Other activities I participated in were the missions in which we'd get various roles such as paycom, which looks after all the anomalies, mission specialists who go on adventures and so many more.

Overall the camp was a blast!!! I'd like to say a huge thank you to this amazing school because without UHS and all the other lovely people who helped me I couldn't have had this once in a life opportunity. The biggest lesson I learned is not to let my fears get in the way of trying fun, new things. Just because I am visually impaired, that doesn’t mean I can’t do what people with 20/20 vision can do!