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Photo of
Catherine
Ballard
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A
Scholarship
Fuels
Young
Woman’s
Race for
Space
 DETROIT
- It is
not
every
day you
hear
someone
say that
they
really
enjoy
researching
and
analyzing
particles,
or that
their
life
goal is
to be a
nuclear
or
rocket
scientist.
Yet
you
could
hear
just
that
from
19-year-old
Catherine
Ballard.
With
encouragement
from her
parents
to
pursue
her
interests,
she went
from
watching
a
robotics
competition
to
taking
part in
one to
now
majoring
in
nuclear
engineering
and
radiological
science
at the
University
of
Michigan.
“I
want to
work on
spacecraft
and
monitoring
the
radiation
they
experience,”
Ballard
said. “I
find it
really
interesting
dealing
with
small
particles
and
their
effects.”
Ballard’s
enthusiasm
for
space
soared
when she
joined
the
Civil
Air
Patrol
(CAP)
cadet
program
during
high
school
and
participated
in a
flight
academy.
Now a
cadet
lieutenant
colonel
in the
CAP
Michigan
Wing’s
Ann
Arbor-based
Maj.
Kevin A.
Adams
Composite
Squadron,
she
works
with
Students
for the
Exploration
and
Development
of Space
and the
Collaborative
Lab for
Advancing
Work in
Space—
programs
that
bring
together
students
from
several
disciplines
to work
on
space-related
problems.
And she
participates
in the
Michigan
Engineering
Zone, a
group of
University
of
Michigan
students
and
faculty
who
mentor
high
school
robotics
teams in
Detroit.
All
that
combined
with a
3.8
grade
point
average
helped
Ballard
earn
this
year’s
$2,500
scholarship
awarded
jointly
by CAP
with
Detroit
Chapter
#9 of
the
Vietnam
Veterans
of
America
(VVA9).
The
scholarships
support
Michigan
Wing
cadets
pursuing
their
undergraduate
or
graduate
education.
Funds
can be
used for
tuition,
books
and/or
room and
board.
The
scholarship
“will
help
quite a
bit,”
Ballard
said. “I
can
focus on
school
and not
having
to apply
to get a
bunch of
different
jobs,”
to pay
the
bills,
she
added.
Col.
Rajesh
U.
Kothari,
CAP
Michigan
Wing
commander,
said the
selection
of Cadet
Katie
Ballard,
“recognizes
a young
person
for her
hard
work,
commitment
to
service
and
excellence.
This
scholarship
will
facilitate
her
ongoing
success
and
development.”
Added
VVA9
President
Paul
Palazzolo:
“We like
working
with
partner
organizations
to help
more
young
people
pursue
higher
learning.”
CAP, the
U.S. Air
Force
auxiliary,
performs
search
and
rescue
missions
provides
post-disaster
humanitarian
relief,
promotes
aviation,
aerospace
and STEM
(science,
technology,
engineering
and
math)
education;
and
shapes
future
leaders
through
its
cadet
program.
For more
information,
go to
https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/
or
https://www.vva9.org/
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