ā€œMy dad was a pilot for UPS, and I always had an affinity for space,ā€ said the Speed School alumna. ā€œWhen I was in elementary school, I told my dad I wanted to go to college at NASA.ā€

She had no idea how that childā€™s dream would actually one day come to fruition.

Fly me to the moon

Mazarakis, who graduated from with her bachelorā€™s degree in electrical engineering, and a minor in astrophysics in 2019, was part of the team forĢżĢżlaunch on Nov. 15, the first of a series of space missions that aims to return humans to the moon and eventually, send them to Mars.Ģż

The 26-year old, who has been employed by NASA since April 2021, completed her MS in electrical and computer engineering specializing in radio frequency and avionics engineering from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University one month later. She worked as a NASA contractor for two years before her current position as a flight communications and tracking electrical engineer.

ā€œMy job in Artemis I is to be a part of the team that tests, verifies and prepares all the radio frequency and antenna systems for launch readiness, as well as the video systems on the Orion crew module,ā€ Mazarakis said. ā€œOn launch day, we sit in the firing rooms and say, ‘Go for launch’ on all of the communication systems.

ā€œItā€™s a feeling like no other. Itā€™s almost like a day that you feel will never come, but when it does, it feels like your first child being born. Youā€™ve put all this work and time and effort into this massive system,ā€ Mazarakis said. ā€œYouā€™ve worked with so many other teams and everybody has really given all their blood, sweat and tears into a successful and safe launch.ā€

Mazarakis explained that the name Artemis encompasses all of the missions to the moon that NASA will be executing in the next decade.

ā€œArtemis I is the first of a couple increasingly complex missions,ā€ she said. ā€œWe will launch Artemis II, which is going to do an orbital flight. Artemis III will be the one where we plan on putting boots on the moon.ā€

From aspiring engineer to Cape Canaveral Ģż

Originally from New York City, Mazarakis and her family moved to Shelbyville, Kentucky, when she was a middle-schooler. As a high school senior, Mazarakis visited Speed School friends and saw the course work they were doing.

ā€œIt occurred to me that I really loved the idea of problem solving, critical thinking, thinking and making things,ā€ she said. ā€œOnce I decided on engineering, I knew it would be Speed School because itā€™s the best engineering school around. Everybody knows their engineers go through a much more rigorous curriculum and are much more prepared for the real world.ā€

Mazarakis first majored in bioengineering, but changed gears to pursue aerospace once she joined the River City Rocketry (RCR) team, a student organization dedicated to the hands-on building of rockets. Named Student of the Year in 2019, Mazarakis attributes much of her ability and the jobs sheā€™s been offered in her field to her foundational experience with Speed School and with RCR.

ā€œRiver City Rocketry wasnā€™t just a club, it was a team where they only pick the people who have real passion thatā€™s palpable, people who are going to be dedicated and spend all their extra time at the engineering garage and really learn how to build rockets,ā€ Mazarakis said.

While a member of RCR, Mazarakis helped her team win the NASA student-launched competition against schools like Purdue, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.

ā€œThese are schools that not only have aerospace programs, but the best in the nation,ā€ she said.

The networking opportunities afforded by RCR and organizations like Phi Sigma Rho Sorority for Women in Engineering helped her secure an instrumental co-op rotation with Red Wire Space, sending her down the path to aerospace success.

ā€œThe fact that Speed School has so many alumni who end up at big space companies like NASA, Blue Origin, Gulf Stream Aerospace, SpaceX, is because we werenā€™t just sitting in class reading textbooks about aerospace,ā€ Mazarakis said. ā€œTo be successful, we had to learn it ourselves and just do it. We had the ability to do that through the engineering garage (makerspace) and through mentorship from great professors, but just being able to have the tools was really fantastic.ā€

Mazarakis likened the rigorous academics of Speed School to boot camp, but said the long, tough hours prepared her for her demanding work schedule at NASA.

ā€œYou build up this mental rigor for work that is really useful,ā€ she said. ā€œSometimes at NASA we work around the clock and I sleep under my desk. I really thought that after college, I would be able get a good nightā€™s sleep. Itā€™s a good thing that I braced myself early.ā€

The definition of a dream job

ā€œTo say working at NASA is gratifying is an understatement,ā€ said Mazarakis. ā€œMy whole life I always wanted to work in space, and then at River City Rocketry I realized that I wanted to build rocket ships. But to be here now actually building them, itā€™s like I have to pinch myself on the daily.ā€

Mazarakis said a lot of the testing she performs for her job requires her to climb into the rocketā€™s crew module to test from inside the rocket.

ā€œOf course, Iā€™m focusing on my work when Iā€™m in there but mentally Iā€™m so excited saying to myself, ā€˜Iā€™m in a rocket, Iā€™m inside the rocket.ā€™ā€

What is next for the young NASA engineer?

ā€œI feel like I just achieved my ultimate dream, my ultimate goal just two years ago, so to me it feels weird to be thinking ahead right now,ā€ she said. ā€œIā€™m just so happy to be here where I am.ā€

What about the idea of Alora Mazarakis, astronaut?Ģż

ā€œIt is a lofty ambition and I think I will apply the next time a spaceflight class opens up,ā€ she said. ā€œDo I think Iā€™ll get chosen? Probably not, but I would definitely try. If the opportunity arose, I would gladly, gladly accept ā€“ Iā€™ll put it that way.ā€

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The Paducah, Kentucky, native earned her BA in Communications from UofL, MA in International Communications from American University, JD from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and she is currently pursuing her MBA from the University of Michigan.

She credits UofL, and namely her former professors/mentors Dr. LunDeana Thomas and Dr. Yvonne Jones, with helping her think beyond what she could see and pursue her dreams.

Realizing that dreaming big was the goal, Harden served as a 2003-04 J. William Fulbright Scholar, where she incorporated her love for the arts as a means of teaching English in South Korea. Additionally, after receiving the David L. Boren Fellowship, Harden used this prodigious accomplishment to fund her Korean language immersion program at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

Along with South Korea, her love of arts and academic/professional endeavors led Harden to various projects in Poland, Amsterdam, Kenya, Greece, England, France, South Africa, Brazil, Morocco, Spain, China, Japan, Italy and Tanzania.

Ultimately Harden attended law school, and completed clerkships for both federal trial and appellate judges. Subsequently, Harden served as a senior associate at the law firm of WilmerHale, where she focused on white-collar investigations. Later, she became a federal criminal prosecutor and managed a robust docket that included narcotics, public corruption, white-collar and firearms offenses. However, Harden specialized in prosecuting child exploitation crimes.Ģż

Harden has greatly enjoyed her journey to and through lawyerhood, and she credited much of that guidance to her mentors ā€“ several of whom she found at UofL.

ā€œWhen I grew up, I did not really know a lot of lawyers who looked like me,ā€ Harden said. ā€œGoing to the University of Louisville was the first time, as a young adult, I had an academic environment where the professors and professional mentors looked like me (for example, Dr. Mordean Taylor-Archer, Dr. Yvonne Jones, and Dr. LunDeana Thomas), believed in me, and encouraged me.ā€

Given the role of mentorship in Hardenā€™s life, and in her efforts to ā€œwiden the shuttersā€ for others, Harden mentors and motivates other future lawyers of color.Ģż Specifically, she was a founding member of the James M. Nabrit Clerkship Scholarship, which aimed to promote diversity for law school students applying for clerkships. Harden wants other diverse law school students to have the same feeling of community, support and encouragement that she received at UofL.

Regarding Hardenā€™s current selection as a 2021-22 White House Fellow, she said she feels blessed beyond measure, calling the opportunity, ā€œcatching lightning in a bottle.ā€

ā€œ[The Fellowship] is one of those opportunities where you apply, but you never really know if you will be selected because it is such an arduous process. Everyone who applies to the White House Fellowship is incredibly talented, capable and accomplished in their own way,ā€ Harden said. ā€œItā€™s one of those things where you just apply and hope and pray for the best.ā€Ģż

President Lyndon B. Johnson created the prestigious White House Fellowship through Executive Order, which authorizes a class of 11 to 19 Fellows each year. This year, there are 19 Fellows, which is one of the largest classes.

“In fact, we are acknowledged as being the most diverse class in the history of the program,” Harden said. “When you consider those factors, it is very humbling to have been selected.ā€

Such a schism became evident to Metro Councilman Brandon Coan, who said, ā€œIā€™m Louisville person, Iā€™m not a Kentucky person.ā€

However, following Coanā€™s experience with the Rural-Urban Exchange, also known as RUX, his eyes were opened to the symbiotic relationship between the two.

, which was co-founded by alumna Savannah Barrett ā€™08.

The program involves connecting businessmen, artists and other Kentuckians to how the “other half” operates. It includes three intensive meetings where community members come together to exchange ideas and cultures.

Barrett noted that during the first session, participants came face-to-face with the indigenous people who still reside in areas of Kentucky that are well off the beaten path. It was an important discussion on how harmful it was to refuse to acknowledge the differences between groups.

Barrett along with Josh May, the former communications director of Appalshop, conceived the idea for RUX in 2014. They were motivated by the common misconceptions about the state of Kentucky and the lack of knowledge about the cultural nuances of the state. Together, they combined the efforts of Appalshop and Art of the Rural to form RUX, which is funded primarily through donations and grants.

Barrett, who earned a degree in humanities, is in works to expand education on the program outside of the state.

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Reynolds, the president and CEO of Louisville Urban League, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UofL.Ģż

She has previously been named the 2017 Person of the Year by Louisville Magazine and one of 100 women to watch by BizWomen’s Business Journal.Ģż

and stay connected with .Ģż

The UofL-related honorees are Mary Ellen Wiederwohl ’96;ĢżSharon Kerrick ’03, ’04, ’08; Eden Bridgeman ’08;ĢżAimee Jewell ’13; and Jessica Bird, a friend and supporter of the university.

Wiederwohl, a School of Music graduate, is the chief of Louisville Forward and was recognized as the “Woman of Influence.”Ģż

Kerrick, dean of the W. Fielding Rubel School of Business at Bellarmine University, was recognized as “Mentor of the Year” by the publication.Ģż

Bridgeman, chief marketing officer of Manna Inc., and Jewell, engagement specialist for Leadership Louisville Center and president of the Young Professional Association of Louisville, were both named “Women to Watch.”Ģż

Finally, Bird, a New York Times bestselling author for her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, was recognized as a “Woman of Achievement.” She is a supporter of the UofL and is involved in UofL Athletics as both a football and basketball ticket holder.Ģż

For more, visit .Ģż

As a Rangel scholar, she will work toward a masterā€™s degree and complete a congressional internship at The Hill, followed by a placement abroad with a U.S. Embassy.Ģż

Her international pursuit began while she was at UofL, where she majored in French and Political Science and minored in Middle Eastern Islamic Studies.ĢżAfter graduating in May 2015, Bartholomew was selected as a Fulbright Scholar.Ģż

It was during a chance encounter at a Washington, D.C., event that Bartholomew was encouraged to pursue the next chapter of her journey: the Rangel Fellowship. The prestigious program is competitive and currently represents the United States in 60 countries around the world.Ģż

ā€œThis is something Iā€™ve always thought about. I’m excited, but nervous,ā€ Bartholomew said. ā€œIā€™m just the kind of person that gives it my all in everything I do. I just want toĢżbe an example for my community – thatĢżyou can pursue yourĢż dreams and it is possible to achieve them.ā€

Read more about Bartholomew and her upcoming adventure at .Ģż

It wasnā€™t until a strangerā€™s service dog responded to Hadley Joā€™s seizures during a family outing that the idea of a service dog occurred to Lange. The process for obtaining a trained service animal is a lengthy and costly one. Lange recalls that only through the support of the community, family and friends were they able to afford the $20,000 price tag for their seizure support animal, Ariel.

ā€œI have no regrets. I canā€™t put a price tag on this dog that saves my daughterā€™s life,ā€ Lange said.

November is Epilepsy Awareness Month. Epilepsy is a neurological condition that affects the nervous system, resulting in seizures. According to the UofL Epilepsy Center, there are 90,000 Kentucky and Southern Indiana residents living with epilepsy.

Lange wanted a way to give back to the epilepsy community after all the support she and her family have received. With this in mind, she created the Hope for Hadley Jo Project, a non-profit project affiliated with the Epilepsy Foundation of Kentuckiana that provides service dogs for children with epilepsy.

Lange fully understands that a service animal is not for everyone, but wants to assist anyone that could benefit from their care as Hadley Jo has.

Hadley Joā€™s service dog, Ariel, is a labradoodle that was bred and trained by Julie Case, owner of Ultimate Canine LLC, to be a seizure alert animal. Not all animals are cut out for the rough work that comes with being a service animal, so each dog is heavily evaluated from birth. Out of Arielā€™s litter, only one other dog met the qualifications for a service dog.

In Langeā€™s eyes, it was all worth it to see her daughter blossom under Arielā€™s careful supervision. Arielā€™s job is to alert Hadley Jo and her guardians to an oncoming seizure. With this notice, Lange is able to provide the necessary medicine in under 2 minutes to prevent the seizure before it can start.

Today, Hadley Jo is a typical independent 5-year-old girl. Ariel goes everywhere with Hadley Jo, including riding the bus to and from school each day.

Lange says the sense of relief that Ariel provides is invaluable.

ā€œI know that as [Hadley Jo] ages, Iā€™m going to be around less and less as a mom because I want her to be independent. This way, itā€™s a little bit comforting and therapeutic to know that when Iā€™m not around, Ariel will be around,ā€ she said.

She hopes that other families may benefit from such a wonderful companion.

ā€œI donā€™t want to see any more lives lost because of epilepsy. If thereā€™s something out there, like this that can help a child like it helped my child, you just canā€™t put that into words how much that means to you as a mother,ā€ Lange said.

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