If at first you don't succeed

So....as many of you know, and as I posted on my blog a couple months ago. I applied for the open astronaut position offered by the Canadian Space Agency.

So it's been a busy couple of months, what with the finish of the masters and the family vacation. But I know a lot of you were keeping me in your thoughts for this opportunity so I wanted to update you.

Well...on the 19th day of September 2008, I received the news:

We would like to underscore the fact that the Pre-Selection Board has studied your candidacy with great interest. The information you provided us revealed impressive credentials and experience, especially in your field of expertise. However, we have arrived at the conclusion that 200 candidates possessed qualifications and experience more diversified as well as achievements better tailored to the profession of astronaut

So.... obviously this was a bit devestating. I knew it was a longshot. I'm not gonna lie, I'm young, I'm inexperienced. But...for this recruitment phase my goal was to make it to Phase III. Phase III being the 200 people that they were going to invite to an additional question phase and interviews. I knew I was young, but I was hoping that the experience I had garnered at such age would be enough to get an interview. So that the agency would know who I was, to see see who I could become, to see the drive and determination that I have. I just wanted to get on their radar. So that the next time.....when I am older, when I have more experience, that they already know me.

But that didn't happen. I didn't have enough.

You know it's interesting.... Every decision I've had to make so far has been easy.

• Take an internship in Denmark (what a great way to experience a new culture)

• Take a job, that popped up from nowhere in Washington (my FIRST Aernautic job, what great experience)

• Go to school at SUPAERO. (The most well known Aeronautic school in Europe. How can I say No).
  

This was the first decision I really had to contemplate. What job do i take? Where do I go after this Masters?

So here I was asking myself. What do I do? Do I take this PhD? What is best for my future? And I really didn't know. And I was asking myself, why can't this decision be easy like all the others.

I was never interested in the PhD. I didn't feel it was necessary. Not for this industry. If anything it could make me overqualified for "industral" positions. I had too much schooling and thus would command too much salary. So.....was this the right position for me?

I had already decided that this PhD seemed like the best opportunity for me to gain experience. But this news.....this news that I received on the 19 day of September, it confirmed my decision. It took away all doubt.

The work experience at Airbus was always the motivation. The PhD was just extra. But the rejection from the Canadian Space Agency, I realized that I had been given an opportunity. This PhD would not help me with a career in Aeronautics. But having the PhD would help me for the next time I apply for an astronaut position.

And believe me, this was not my last kick at the can. This is what i want to do. This is what I want to become. And I believe I can do it. There is no doubt in my mind.

But at the same time....this is not the time to become complacent. I got rejected for a reason. Because I do not have the experience. I do not have the skills. I do not have what it takes to be an astronaut. YET. So I have to improve. I have to take this time I have.... between now and the next recruitment.... to improve myself. To challenge myself to improve. To become better.

And maybe that is the hardest part. The self-improvement. To motivate myself towards a goal that is uncertain. How can I do this? What exactly do I have to do?

And that is the million dollar question. What do I have to do? But it's exciting. I have three years ahead of my for this PhD. And I intend to use them.

Some people my remember, how I talked about a 5 year plan. I posted it in my year end tribute 2006 What a Year it Was. That was the end of my first 5 year plan, my 5 years of Mechanical Engineering, and it was the start of my next 5 years.

Well here it is. One year great experience in Washington, One Year of Masters degree in France and now......add on three years of a PhD here in France at AIRBUS. That is the second 5 yr plan of my life.

I'm really looking forward to starting.

Let the adventure begin

Logan

Crusing through the history of Civilization

Well I'm finally getting around to writing about the cruise. First of all, pictures are UP!!!
They can all be seen here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/logan.jones

Obviously there was a ton of pictures when you combine mine, my parents and Kendra and Marc's pictures. So I tried to post the best.

So first of all. The trip all started here in Toulouse. My parents and K&M met here at my home in Toulouse. We had a full house for a day, as there was the 5 of us, along with my roommate Vladimir, his mom and his brother. So 8 of in all. The graduation ceremony was fine. Nearly all in French so not so interesting for the family and we sat and watched as 150 names were individually called up. But most of all my family got to see where I'm living, meet some of my friends here, see the apartment here, and just generally get to know my life here in France.

From here we rented a car and made a pit stop in the town of Carcassonne, made famous by the beautiful castle. After we followed the GPS as it took us on a cross country adventure as we wanted to take the 'scenic' route on the way to Barcelona. It was definitely scenic, I have no idea where we took it. But we managed to make a 3hr trip to Barcelona in....7hrs.
	From Carcassonne

Barcelona is a beautiful city I know fairly well. Even before I had met my Barcelonan roommate I had spent a lot of time there. And since then I've been back several times with Vladimir (my roommate). So it was my chance to show my family the sights of Barcelona and the beach of Barcelona :)

From there we took a nice cheap flight to Rome (Man I love Europe, Rome to Barcelona for 35 Euro's). It was my first time in Rome!! And it was amazing. Really, this whole trip was a trip through the birth of civilization. From the Great Pyramids of Egypt, to the ancient city of Ephesus, to the renowned Acropolis in Athens and the 'Eternal City' of Rome. It is what made this trip amazing!
	From Roma

The Trip route looked like this. The ports of call were as follows:
Rome
Naples (where you could go to Pompei or Capri or the Amalfi Coast)
Athens, Greece
Ephesus, Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey
Mykonos, Greece (skipped due to bad weather)
Port Said, Egypt (with bus trip to Cairo)
Alexandria, Egypt
back to Rome

I'll let the pictures mainly speak for themselves. But in short the trip was amazing!!! This itinerary could not have been more perfect. I've been lucky enough to see a lot of Europe so far, but every single place on this trip I had never been. And of course the places! Athens!! Istanbul!! and probably the hi-light for most people on this trip, the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

The ship was a lot of fun too. The food was unbelieveable. In addition to the all you can eat buffet 24hr buffet (nothing like filling that 3am craving), and the burger bar, and the pizza bar. The formal dining was unreal. It was like eating at a 5 star hotel every night. And being a student....lets just say I don't get to eat like that very often...much less every single night. I ate steaks and lobster and king crab and prime rib and frog legs and escargot and halibut and....man....unbelievable.

The ship was huge, 951 feet long. 2.5 times walking around it was one mile. There were times it was a bit lonely. As with many cruises, the majority is older people (I was told the average age on the ship was 70yrs old) and if they are young they are usually newly weds (i.e. Kendra and Marc). So I became friends with a lot of the staff, as well there were my 'drinking' buddies who I could find up in the 'not so lively' nightclub each night. We spent most of the evenings 'shootin the shit' and showing of magic tricks. Finally on the second last night, the nightclub was a little more lively and I found my dance partner :) Darcie and I danced the night away, her teaching me to salsa and me showing her the two-step. Kendra and Marc were there all night too, dancing the night away. Pictures are all in the 'Grand Princess' album. As you can see, it was formal night so we had the James Bond tuxes going on, along with the Martini's in hand.

From The Grand Princess

The next day (and last day on the boat) I got to experience what it was like to spend your time on the boat with someone. Darcie and I spent the day laying in the sun, watching movies on the deck, playing mini-tennis, mini-golf and ping pong. And then follwed by yet another 5 star dinner. It was a wonderful day. One I won't soon forget.

And then....seemingly as soon as it began. We were back at Rome. The cruise was over. Back to reality....back to having to cook for yourself....sigh

But what's left over is the memories made and the pictures taken. And as you can see by the pictures...it really was the trip of a lifetime. The thing we saw, the history we witnessed, the people we met, the things we learned. I crossed a lot of things off of my list to do. The Great Pyramids, the Coliseum of Rome, Athens!! We will be telling and sharing stories from this trip for a long time.
	From Cairo and the Great Pyramids