By Scarlett Constand ’16 | Opinion Editor

It was cloudy and windy the day Mr. Hernandez took us down to the football field. It was a great day in the making because we were going to launch rockets.

Ever since going through the astronomy unit in Earth Science, I wanted to take a full astronomy course. I wanted to learn about the universe; stars, planets, galaxies–everything. When I started the year in Mr. Hernandez’s class, I have to admit I was taken aback. According to our syllabus, we were going to learn about physics and other subjects I had no idea were connected to astronomy.

Physics has everything to do with launching rockets. It was ignorant of me to ignore the fact that gravity, velocity, and acceleration have everything to do with the universe. The possibilities surrounding astronomy are endless.

As a class, we’d been waiting to get permission from the school administration to launch rockets on the field for a couple weeks. Each day that we heard nothing, the anticipation made us grow more and more anxious. We spent the days leading up to the launch assembling the rockets and learning how they worked. I made sure to grab a high power engine because–let’s be honest–everyone wants a high power rocket.

I was in charge of handling a contraption made of paper, a straw, and a washer to calculate the altitude of our rocket, meaning how high it went in the air. The lift off itself was pretty amazing because after we counted down, we expected it to immediately shoot up, but there was a delay. We looked at each other, perplexed, but a couple seconds later the rocket took off.

This was definitely an experience that has made astronomy a class worth taking. It isn’t just about staring at tiny lights in the night sky; it’s about learning how we can physically reach that sky and discover the infinite possibilities the universe has to offer.