Congrats to our senior Galaxy Explorers
Congratulations to the seniors of our Galaxy Explorers program!
Thank you for committing your hearts, minds and time to serve our community. Our senior class has dedicated thousands of hours towards inspiring and educating learners of all ages. Every science demonstration, every community event, every team project has made an impact.
We will miss their passionate presence in the Center, but we’re excited to see what the next chapter holds for this incredible group of students.
Never stop exploring.
About the Galaxy Explorers Program
The Galaxy Explorer program provides high school students with an opportunity for hands-on, fun community service work while giving them a chance to develop their job skills, increase their STEM knowledge, and enhance public speaking.
The program is a year round commitment and Galaxy Explorers are required to participate in a minimum of 8 hours of enrichment per month, but many have gone far beyond that.
Senior Spotlight
There are 57 members of our Galaxy Explorers program that are graduating high school seniors. Together, these students completed 14,618 hours of service.
These students have made a significant impact on Chabot Space & Science Center. Many have returned for 2, 3 and even 4 years as a Galaxy Explorer. Learn more about these fantastic students, their plans for the future and their experiences as Galaxy Explorers below.
Learn more about members of our senior class:
Liann B.
430 hours of service
4 years in the Galaxy Explorers Program
Plans to attend Claremont McKenna College
I’ll miss the strong sense of community and love for the program. I learned how to articulate myself, work with different learning styles (including my own), and collaborate on team projects (like learning DigitalSky). I’ll miss the people, the kids and Project Create.
Benji C.
465 hours of service
3 years in the Galaxy Explorers Program
Plans to attend UCLA
I think one of the most important things I learned as GE is how to break the ice. I find it much easier to start a conversation with people I don’t know very well in a situation that otherwise might be a bit awkward. I’ll miss break room debates over the question on the whiteboard.
Jamahl. E
740 hours of service
4 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to attend Community College to later transfer to a 4-year University
I am going to miss interacting with people my age from all over the Bay Area. The Galaxy Explorers program taught me the best way to present high level scientific and technologic information.
Julizza E.
20 hours of service
Plans to attend college
1 year in the Galaxy Explorers program
Something I’ll miss from the GE program are the experiments. Some of my favorite memories were made during the overnight shifts.
Maddox F.
581 hours of service
3 years in the Galaxy Explorers Program
Plans to attend Berkeley City College to later transfer to UC Santa Cruz.
Something I learned from the Galaxy Explorers program was how to be a better leader. My favorite memory was going to the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers conference with Astronomy Team during my first year at Chabot.
Hanako H.
392 hours of service
3 years as a Galaxy Explorer
Plans to study physics at Princeton
My favorite memory from the GE program is the trip to Mt. Lassen. I had so much fun getting to know other GEs better, whether or not I’d even met them before! I’m going to miss talking to the other GEs. I’ve had a lot of interesting conversations with people over the last three years. I’m also honestly going to miss a lot of the dry ice demos.
Kevin H.
667 hours of service
3.5 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to study mechanical engineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
My favorite memory is first GE awards night. It was the first time I really got to know all the other GEs and find my comfort zone in Chabot. The Galaxy Explorers program taught me what it means to be a leader and a team player. Also, I learned where my strengths and weaknesses lie when working in groups.
Kyra K.
174 hours of service
1.5 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to join the workforce part time before attending college
I learned that communication and supporting others is vital. I think that I learned to understand information quicker and relay it to the museum guests. I will miss my fellow GEs and the community.
Hannah L.
206 hours of service
2.5 years as a Galaxy Explorer
Plans to attend college
My favorite memories were demonstrations, making new friends and working with friends on shifts. I will miss meeting new people and presenting demos.
Cameron L.
248 hours of service
3 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to study biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University
I’d say my favorite memory would either be making a drone while I was on programming team or participating in the slime-making demo. As a GE, I learned a lot about tailoring the style of teaching to each visitor. I also learned so much about science from talking with other GE’s.
Thomas L.
340 hours of service
4 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to study computer science at UC Berkeley
I will missing going to team meetings and talking to the cool people who share the same interests as me.
Hongbin M.
318.42 hours of service
3 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to study Math-Computer Science at UCSD and learn its applications to robotics.
Many of my favorite memories come from presenting exciting science demonstrations to the visitors. It improved my public speaking skills by letting the audiences engage in what I was doing.
Megan M.
345 hours of service
2 years in the Galaxy Explorer program
Plans to study aerospace engineering at UC San Diego
I will miss getting to work with and hang out with students from all over the Bay Area, and I will miss working on fun projects that I ordinarily would not have the opportunity to work on, such as building underwater rovers and rockets for The American Rocketry Challenge.
N.M.
244 hours of service
3 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to study computer science at UC Santa Barbera
Something I learned was how to interact with people. I’ll miss seeing new people and being able to explain science. I’ll also miss programming team and working on projects with our group.
Derek N.
900 hours of service
4 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to attend college
While in the GE program, I learned how much everyone is willing to learn, especially kids; they are often underestimated and patronized, but they know what’s up. I will miss seeing all of these people I’ve gotten to know and become friends with.
Astha P.
230 hours of service
2 years in the Galaxy Explorers Program
Plans to study biochemistry at UCLA
My favorite memory from the GE program was definitely the LIT team dance party at Teen Night. I’ll miss the people, the staff, other GEs and interns.
Jashan P.
388 hours of service
4 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to attend UC Berkeley
I learned how to manage different personalities and interact with various types of people. I’ll miss interacting with the other GEs the most, especially the ones who were in Programming Team.
Rohan P.
260 hours of service
2.5 years in the Galaxy Explorers Program
Plans to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
My favorite memory was the Teen Science Night. We worked really hard on our program and the showcase was a perfect way to get others to see our work. I will miss spending time with GE’s from all over the Bay Area who have similar interests as me. I will also miss performing exciting experiments and engaging people of all different ages.
Chinmai S.
672 hours of service
4 years in the Galaxy Explorer program
Plans to attend UC Santa Cruz
I enjoyed exploring the infinite secret rooms and meeting new people. Something I learned through the Galaxy Explorers program was how to engage visitors.
Julia S.
330.5 hours of service
3 years in the Galaxy Explorers Program
Plans to study astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz to become an astrophysicist
I was nervous about public speaking before becoming a GE, but now I’m much better at it! I’ve also been able to apply science concepts I learned at Chabot to topics I learned about in school and vice versa – the extra knowledge has made teaching the public about science easier and more fun.
Rijuta V.
294 hours of service
3 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to study history at Rice University in Houston Texas
I’ve learned that even if you feel a little apprehensive, you should always go for it and try something new! I’ll miss Chabot Space and Science Center itself, from the cozy volunteer lounge to the bio lab!
Janice Y.
335 hours of service
4 years in the Galaxy Explorers program
Plans to study computer science at Stanford University
I’ll miss meeting and getting to know other students from schools all over the Bay Area while having a lot of fun. There are many things you can learn from trying things outside of your comfort zone. They might seem a little intimidating at first, but in the end, it’ll be worth it.
