Aerospace just sounds cool
During high school, I attended the University of Alabama with their UA Early College program. Through it, I was able to take classes during the summer and live on campus for a month. This really opened my eyes to what college life was like, and afterwards I could not wait to get to the next step in my education.
One of the first things that the program made me do was to pick a major in order to ensure that the classes I took would actually count towards my degree. I knew I wanted to be in engineering, but I wasn't sure which specific field because I didn't have any experience in any of them.
I hadn't even taken a calculus or physics class yet, but I was still confident that I could do whatever major I wanted. They also were sure to inform me that most engineering prerequisites were either very similar or the exact same classes, so it would not be a hassle to switch between engineering majors if I didn't like it.
So, I checked out a list of engineering majors offered by UA, which was in alphabetical order. Aerospace engineering was the first major I saw. I thought to myself, "That sounds tough, I'll do it." I chose my major that day, and it was simply based on the name.
Further Specializations
My next year in high school, I finally took both calculus and physics. I was amazed by the trajectory problems and how someone could mathematically model how an object would move over time. I found a passion for how we can predict how objects would move.
I carried this passion throughout my collegiate career, despite most of my courses being centered around structural mechanics and aerodynamics. That being said, I decided that I would further my education by going to graduate school and specializing in dynamics and control systems.
I'm so glad that aerospace starts with an 'A,' and I'm super grateful for UA for providing the academic experiences that have gotten me to where I am today.