Chosen for a 'space' adventure
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on April 4, 2018 5:50 AM
Full Size
Submitted photo
Hailey Antiquina, a junior at Southern Wayne High School, was chosen to attend the Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy in Alabama, a space camp with a strong focus on STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math. The activity pictured was called Zero Gravity, with students spun around, simulating the feeling of being out in space, she said.
Full Size
Submitted photo
Hailey Antiquina participates in a team building activity involving a flight simulator where students got to experience what it was like to fly a space shuttle.
A Southern Wayne High School junior had her own "lost in space" adventure recently when she was chosen to attend the Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy in Huntsville, Alabama.
The scholarship program was developed in partnership with the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and was open to youth ages 16 to 18 with parents who are current Honeywell employees.
Hailey Antiquina is the daughter of Allen and Tara Antiquina of Goldsboro. Her dad is a systems installation technician with Honeywell.
The program featured a large emphasis on STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math.
"I want to be a nurse so I figured a little bit of science would go really good on my applications," Hailey said. "It was a really good opportunity."
The rigorous application and review process paid off for 325 students from 35 countries and 25 states selected for this year's program. Hailey was the only one from Wayne County, and one of three from North Carolina, she said.
The five-day session included team-building challenges such as designing, building and testing model rockets, simulated astronaut training, coding challenges, shuttle missions, a moonwalk and performing scientific experiments.
One activity was an incident command exercise.
"This gripping, brisk mission required that we work together to save various lives as well as keep our team calm," she said. "At first the mission was very chaotic but we worked together and saved 40-plus people. Team Inspiration also took part in rock building.
"Our whole team was split into groups of four, where we built a rocket, choosing from various sizes and shapes."
But also high atop her list of experiences was getting to meet so many people from other parts of the world, she said.
She said she appreciated getting a feel for other countries and cultures and making new friends along the way.
"It was the first time I ever flew by myself and then we all get there -- you're interacting with some that don't speak English and some don't even know the foods that we eat here," she said. "Some of my team members were from Australia, Norway, Hungary and many places from all around the United States."
The students also got to visit the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, meet astronauts and participate in a variety of "exciting group activities," she said.
Some of the highlights included conducting experiments and getting to experience what it would be like to fly a space shuttle and participate a space walk.
She explained that the latter involved being placed in a contraption that felt like a "bouncy chair."
"The activity was called Zero Gravity," she said. "It would spin us around and give us a dizzy (sensation) but yet feeling like we were being spun out in space."
The 17-year-old, who has aspirations of becoming an anesthesiologist, said she learned much -- about space and the history behind exploration as well as the importance of team effort.
"The takeaway from the camp itself, I had a blast with all the opportunities they had to offer," she said. "Even though I was pretty much close to home, it was really cool to get to interact with people from all over the world.
"There was so much that we did. It was a learning experience as well as an opportunity of a lifetime."