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Will Waldron, a physics and astronomy professor, applied to be an astronaut for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the Spring of 2020 in hopes of fulfilling his life-long dream of going into space.

Waldron has wanted to be an astronaut since the age of five, and he said he cannot seem to escape what he feels is a calling to be one.

“I've looked up into space and desired to go there for a long time. I can't explain why, though. It’s weird as a scientist to say but I can't escape the feeling that it's what I need and want to do,” Waldron said, “There is just so much that we do not know. I feel like we have lost a lot of our craving for exploration. The raw feeling of wanting to know. I think there is a joy in the pursuit of knowledge, and I would love to be able to search for truth both here on earth and around the earth.”

While Waldron met all the requirements to become an astronaut when he applied in the Spring of 2016, he was not accepted into the program; however, this did not stop him from pursuing his dream. Waldron applied again in the Spring of 2020, but this time, he had more to put on his resumé.

“There’s basically only two routes to becoming an astronaut. One, you can do it through the military- which really wasn't my cup of tea. I didn’t really want to join the Air Force or Navy,” Waldron said, “or two is to get a PhD. I spend Tuesdays in my office trying to chip aways bits of my PhD in hopes to wrap it up within the next year or two.”

Waldron was aware of the statistical probability of becoming an astronaut for NASA. NASA had 12 to 16 openings to be in the astronaut pledge class of 2018, but they received around 80,000 applications. While he was aware of the low statistical likelihood of being chosen, his hopes remained high.

“Most of being accepted has to do with having the qualifications that nasa needs right then,” Waldron said, “I’m an astrophysicist. I really hope that NASA needs an astronaut that's an astrophysicist one day.”

His hopeful attitude created a positive environment for his students to follow their dreams similarly. Waldron said that, Lord-willing, if you shoot for the stars (no pun intended) and go for your dream, you will achieve it and love what you do. Waldron also said that sometimes, that is not God’s plan for you.

“You can either be really bummed out or you can realize that God has something grander for you somewhere else in life. When your eyes are set on Jesus, he will lead you where you need to go.”

Waldron aims to encourage students throughout everyday life. What Waldron worked towards was not impossible but rather unusual, and he hoped his students would realize that no dream is too big for them. Ashlyn Elmore, a junior Teaching Assistant for Waldron, believes that Waldron is successful in his efforts to encourage his students.

“I think he encourages his students to follow their dreams by leading by example. He’s never been afraid to share his dreams with his students and I think that that ambitious energy really rubs off on his students,” Elmore said.

Carson Hayes, a junior former student of Waldron, said that Waldron has the perfect set of characteristics that make up a great teacher, and he genuinely felt encouraged by him in his course. He hopes that Waldron someday becomes an astronaut because of this.

Brenda Sanchez, a sophomore International Business major and student athlete, started her own international travel and food blog in the spring of 2021 in order to help boost her resumé.

Sanchez played golf for the University and was looking for another outlet to express herself creatively all while adding experience to her resumé. Sanchez said that she is typically able to come up with ideas for any problem she has just by being creative. For her, the search for a new outlet was resolved in exactly this way.

“I wanted to have a creative outlet to create something special- like a blog or website. I consider myself a creative person, and I can usually come up with ideas pretty quickly. If you give me an issue, I can find a creative solution. That is how I came up with the idea for my international food and travel blog,” Sanchez said.

Teammate and fellow student Kodie Winnings admired Sanchez for her hard work and multitasking.

“What inspired me most is how she has so much going on between practice, workouts, school work, being immersed in a new culture, yet she makes time to involve herself in things she enjoys doing,” Winnings said, “As college athletes our free time is very limited and it's awesome to see her get out there and create something like a blog.”

Dustin Howell, the University’s golf coach, believes Sanchez to be a hard worker and dedicated student athlete. He noted that the blog would definitely be something Sanchez would excel in.

“Brenda has so many talents and she has a great eye for detail. She is well organized and dedicated to her goals in academics and athletics,” Howell said.

Sanchez’s blog is called Löffel & Gabel and was named after “spoon and fork” in German. She believed that incorporating German into her work was important in remembering one of her earlier dives into other cultures. When Sanchez was in high school, she studied German and spent one month in Germany for an exchange program. She added that this experience was important in her journey of learning about new foods and new places.

Sanchez said that her interest in international food and travel was sparked after a 12 day-long trip she took to Europe when she was 15. After going to England, France, Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium, she realized the large number of pictures she had taken as well as how much she had loved learning about new, exciting cultures. When she began her blog in 2021, Sanchez mainly focused on this trip and highlighted some of her travel experiences with pictures and stories.

After a while, Sanchez believed that her blog could focus on more than just travel. That is where the food blog came in. Growing up, Sanchez said that she had wanted to be a chef.

“I ended up feeling discouraged, and I eventually decided to pursue a different career path,” Sanchez said, “but I love cooking, baking, and trying new foods as a hobby. I absolutely love what I do, and I typically spend most of my free time trying out old family recipes or new recipes.”

With food being the main focus of her blog now, Sanchez was dedicated to trying new and exciting things throughout 2021; however, the pandemic challenged this focus in several ways. Because her hometown is in Mexico, she could only visit new places inside of her country during the pandemic. While many could see this as an obstacle, Sanchez saw this as an opportunity.

“I was able to visit a few towns in Mexico in the country and on the beaches. I got to try some pretty unique foods while I was there,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez has exciting ideas in the near future for her international food and travel blog that she hopes will happen. Aside from wanting to visit new countries such as Spain or Vienna, she said that she is excited to see how much her blog will grow from her past work. Sanchez believes she is creative and an innovator, and intends on creating more content for the things she has experienced.

“I don’t care if I have a huge following on social media, because I just want to share my talents and what I’ve seen. If people like it, that’s awesome, but it isn’t my intention to be a huge sensation,” Sanchez said, “I want people to see my pictures and blog and learn a lot about new places that they might not have heard about before.”

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Megan Drause, a Sophomore in women’s social club Ko Jo Kai, found a creative outlet that not only helps others, but also herself. During Drause’s junior year of high school (2019), she began making puppets. Her puppets have become an outlet that have helped her to bring joy to others while expressing herself.

“I’ve found that building these puppets has allowed me to express my emotions (good and bad) in a way I never even thought possible,” Drause said, “These puppets show the ups and downs of my life, and I think you can see my growth with them.”

One of Drause’s puppets has even made its way to Arkansas’ School for the Deaf. In December 2021, Drause donated a new puppet named Maggie to the school as a part of Dr. Ann Brown’s final exam. Drause said that it was the most rewarding thing she has ever gotten to do, and it has led her to some exciting ideas and opportunities.

“I had always played around with the idea of an ASL (American Sign Language) puppet, the criteria of the final provided me with the perfect opportunity,” Drause said, “I’ve always built puppets with the purpose of serving others in some way, and Maggie is doing just that.”

Drause says that her puppet, Maggie, is now a permanent resident of the Arkansas School for the Deaf, and she is living in the elementary school's library where she’ll get to tell stories to students.

Drause’s heart for service has not gone unnoticed. Jayne Gilbert, a junior and fellow member of Drause’s social club Ko Jo Kai, adds that Megan is a perfect example of using one’s talents to serve others.

“I think she is an incredible human who has a massive heart for others,” Gilbert said“She is at every single event that involves serving others, and she was even elected Service Project Director in Ko Jo Kai this semester. It is not surprising that she found a way to use her unique talent to better serve the deaf community. All of us in Ko Jo Kai are so proud to know her.”

Gilbert even says that she would love to find a way for Drause to use her talents in club events such as club week or service projects.

Madison Dean, the Spring 2022 President of Ko Jo Kai, says that maybe we could all learn something from Drause.

“She is so kind, so loving, and so selfless. I think that donating the puppet was an amazing act, and we can all learn a little something from Megan,” Dean said, “We should all be thinking about ways we can help the community and follow through with it. Megan is a very creative girl who used her God given talents to create something incredible and fun to help others.”

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