Journal Seven -- Gabriel Pullen

The profile in the book Callings that has meant the most to me so far would have to be the chapter about the Aeromedical Field Tester. Alton Yates, a 73 year old man, gives his experience growing up with six siblings and only having one parent to take care and provide for them. He says, "I knew that as soon as I finished high school, I was going to have to find a job so that I could help take care of the family". At the time, it was hard to get a well paying job at his age, so he joined the Air Force. His work with the Air Force helped put Americans on the moon.
This profile really stood out to me because he joined the Air Force to provide for his struggling family, and in the process he did some incredible things that nobody his age (19) could think of. He was working in a space program before NASA was around. One of my favorite quotes from this chapter is at the end of the chapter on page 35, when he is asked about how he feels about when America sent their first man into space, he says, "We had accomplished the objective: to safely put a man into space. Even to this day, every time there is a liftoff I think a little piece of me lifts off with each one of those missions". That is my favorite line because, not only does he clearly love what he is doing for a living, but he also was a part of something that is part of our nation's history. That is a big deal to me.
My research question was: what does an Aeromedical Field Tester do? I looked up Aeromedical for an answer, and it means: relating to the use of aircraft for medical purposes such as transporting patients to a hospital or, relating to medical issues associated with air travel. My vocab word was NASA, since I hear people talk about NASA a lot, but I don't think many people know what it stands for. NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The two things I want most from my future occupation, whatever that ends up being, are 1.filling a role/having a purpose in the world, not just doing an odd job for money; 2.making enough money to enjoy life, and not stress about how I am going to make it day to day.

1.