LORENA, Texas — Many students will tell you math is one of the toughest subjects in the classroom. Lorena High School senior Cameron Hesse welcomes the challenge.
“Mathematics is the language of the universe," he said. "Everything in the universe is about math."
His teachers like Ann Burnside say Cameron picks everything he’s taught quickly and takes it to the next level.
“A lot of high school students are simply happy knowing how something works," Burnside said. "Tell me how it works out and I’ll be fine. Cameron wants to know ‘the why. Why is it this way? What if I change this? What if I do something a little different?'”
Cameron’s tenacious passion for math took him to new heights. He was selected alongside 150 other Texas students during his junior year for the Texas High School Aerospace Scholars program. A 16-week online program with courses filled with college level math and ideas.
“I would get here at the high school every single morning around 7:30 a.m.," he said. "I would not leave until about 6 p.m. every night practicing. As soon as I get home, I will eat dinner and work till about midnight every single night just trying to stay up on all my assignments and making sure I’m getting everything done and maintain my straight A's along with the NASA program."
His hard work led him to receiving an invitation to a five-day virtual experience this summer.
“We got to work as a team of 12 high school students designing a mission to the moon," he said. "We designed all the science and all the actual equipment that would get us there. We submitted that NASA engineers who looked at the project and considered using it for space exploration in the future."
Cameron said the experience has launched his dreams of becoming a aerospace engineer.
“I really wanted to go to NASA and learn more about it," he said. "This program has really turned me on to aerospace engineering and the path I need to take to get there.”
He is looking to go to a college with a exceptional aerospace program so he can continue working toward his dream.
