College Admissions Essay: My Passion As A Rocket

The Hobby that became My Passion 3…2…1…Launch! Woosh! That is the sound of a model rocket taking flight and a passion for rocketry being born. My participation in rocketry began when I received my first model rocket in grade school and since then, my appreciation for rocketry has done nothing but soar. Rocketry has benefited my education as I have participated in Team America Rocketry Challenge (TARC), entered in science fairs, and mentored local rocket clubs. I received my first model rocket in grade school and I enjoyed building and flying it with my father. Up until high school, I occasionally built model rockets, but once I got to high school, my participation in rocketry took off. As a freshman I joined my school’s rocketry club and learned how to build custom rockets. As a sophomore,

This assignment led me to design the Air Brake Deployment System (ABDS). The ABDS consists of two small computer controlled flaps that extend out away from the rocket’s body and increase the rocket’s drag and slow the rocket down. By computer controlling these flaps, the ABDS is able to guide the rocket to an exact apogee. The design process for the ABDS took two years and through the process, with the invaluable help of my father and science teachers, I learned how to 3D print parts for the ABDS, how to apply my knowledge of math and physics to rocketry, and much more. The design process was long and difficult, but it paid off in my junior year when the ABDS successfully led our TARC team to place 12th in the 2015 TARC National Fly-offs. Besides using it in our TARC rocket, I entered the ABDS into the 2015 NAR Junior Science fair and won. I also had the chance to get an article published