Nathan Stepp: Honors Student in the Spotlight
Nathan Stepp
Sophomore
Major:
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
From:
Clinton, Tennessee
Our current student spotlight is Nathan Stepp from Clinton, TN. Nathan is a Mechanical and Aerospace engineering major, who also serves as a Resident Assistant (RA) on one of our Honors floors.
Where are you from? :
Originally, I grew up in the outer suburbs of Chicago but I went to Middle and High School in Clinton, TN (Knoxville area).
What high school did you attend?
Clinton High School, Clinton, TN
What were you involved with in high school?
Boy Scouts of America (I'm an Eagle Scout)
Order of the Arrow (Boy Scout Honors Society)
Clinton High School (CHS) Drama Department
International Thespians Society
CHS Engineering Team
CHS National Honors Society
Tennessee Science Bowl
CHS Swim Team
CHS Philosophy Club
CHS Yearbook Staff
Would you like to add anything interesting about your high school experience?
I was the editor of my senior high school yearbook, the technical producer in my senior drama department shows, and was voted student of the year of my senior class. Also, during the summer between my junior and senior years, I attended Tennessee's Governors School for the Sciences, studying modern physics.
What is your major here at UAH?
My major is Aerospace Engineering and I'm in the process of declaring a second major in Electrical Engineering. I'm also working on a minor in physics.
Tell us about what you do as an Honors RA.
Besides typical RA duties, I feel, as an honors RA, I help facilitate my honors residents become well-rounded individuals that help build a better honors program and fulfill the honors program's mission. I try and teach them the things that I found useful as an honors student.
What else are you involved in at UAH?
UAH Space Hardware Club
What are your goals after graduation?
After my undergraduate is finished, I would like to pursue a graduate study in aerospace engineering, focusing on propulsion mechanics and deep space probes. If possible, I would even like to pursue a Ph.D. in the subject as well. At some point before I start the major career of my life, I would like to backpack through Europe and possibly study some eastern philosophy. However, I would eventually like to try and find work and raise a family out on the west-coast of the US.
What do you ultimately see yourself doing career-wise?
My dream has always been to work as a Project Lead at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories at NASA working on propulsion and deep space probes. However, I really want to work at some institution or organization that is devoted to pure research in the pursuit of expanding our knowledge of the universe. I want to make a difference in people's lives, maybe not in some practical manner (albeit, that would be nice too), but in a way that shifts people's worldview for the better.
