Page 82 - SpringBoard_Writing_Workshop_Grade8_Flipbook

My dream became a possibility when I learned that NASA had a program in which My Notes college students could submit proposals for experiments on the plane. In 2001, our
team of Carnegie Mellon students proposed a project using virtual reality.
Being weightless is a sensation hard to fathom when you’ve been an Earthling all your life. In zero gravity, the inner ear, which controls balance, isn’t quite in synch with what your eyes are telling you. Nausea is often the result. Could virtual reality dry-runs on the ground help? That was the question in our proposal, and it was a winner. We were invited to Johnson Space Center in Houston to ride the plane.
I was probably more excited than any of my students. Floating! But late in the process, I got bad news. NASA made it very clear that under no circumstances could faculty advisors fly with their students.
I was heartbroken, but I was not deterred. I would find a way around this brick wall. I decided to carefully read all the literature about the program, looking for loopholes. And I found one: NASA, always eager for good publicity, would allow a journalist from the students’ hometown to come along for the ride.
I called an official at NASA to ask for his fax number. “What are you going to fax us?” he asked. I explained: my resignation as the faculty advisor and my application as the journalist.
“I’ll be accompanying my students in my new role as a member of the media,” I said.
And he said, “That’s a little transparent, don’t you think?”
“Sure,” I said, but I also promised him that I’d get information about our experiment onto news Web sites, and send film of our virtual reality efforts to more mainstream journalists. I knew I could pull that off, and it was win-win for everyone. He gave me his fax number.
As an aside, there’s a lesson here: Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome.
My experience in zero G was spectacular (and no, I didn’t throw up, thank you). I did get banged up a bit, though, because at the end of the magical twenty-five seconds, when gravity returns to the plane, it’s actually as if you’ve become twice your weight. You can slam down pretty hard. That’s why we were repeatedly told: “Feet down!” You don’t want to crash land on your neck.
But I did manage to get on that plane, almost four decades after floating became one of my life goals. It just proves that if you can find an opening, you can probably find a way to float through it.
After Reading
When you have finished reading, respond to the questions that follow in the space provided. Be prepared to discuss your answers with your classmates.
4. What is the main focus of this narrative?
It tells how Randy Pausch fulfilled his dream of floating without gravity.
Writing Workshop 7 • Narrative Nonfiction 3
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