This past weekend I was able to volunteer at an event held in Illinois, where different university students were asked to put on a Q&A panel for High School students. This allowed students who are interested in the field to ask all about college life and more about the different majors.

Lastly, I am involved in The Illinois Space Society! In this society, I am specifically on the SpaceShot team, where we build rockets for competitions in pursuit of making one that will go to space! In the SpaceShot team, I am on the fabrications side, this means I actually fabricate the components of the rocket, so far, I have done composites with fiber glass and have been able to work with different materials like carbon fiber. In our most recent launch back in early September we launched a two staged rocket, I was selected to be a launch operator and to assemble the rocket at the pad.

Overall, my classes are tough, but I am so incredibly fortunate to have such a good support system with family and friends, especially with those from the Exelon Foundation STEM Academy.

Jillian Kouzmanoff is a 2023 Exelon Foundation STEM Academy Scholarship recipient.

You can read more about Jillian's story as well as our other Scholarship Winners at exelonstemacademy.org