# @macjournalism on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DKkd8rjvQMk
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/31571302-macjournalism-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/9023070664.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-06-06T18:42:59.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** McCallum Journalism (@macjournalism) — https://gondola.cc/macjournalism

## Caption

Class of 2025 graduate Grace Valdez plans on attending Purdue University this fall in west Lafayette, Indiana. Valdez will be majoring in Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering. 

“I am part of their minorities in the engineering and will be attending the engineering bootcamp which is the part of the early start summer semester,” Valdez said 

Valdez says her intal interest in Aeronautical Engineering came from the McDonald observatory she would visit when she was young, contributing to her dreams to study space sciences. She explains how Purdue is known for granting opportunities and had fostered past legacies who attended. 

“Purdue is known as the Cradle of Astronauts and has graduated 27 astronauts so far including Neil Armstrong,” Valdez said. “I knew I wanted to be a part of that legacy and that Purdue would best foster that.”

Valdez found that mechanics of rocketry grew her oppression with the Saturn V Rocket and knew as soon as she stepped into the hall of astronauts she found her calling. 

“Purdue is 3rd in the nation overall for Aerospace Engineering and when I walked down the hall of astronauts in their Armstrong building I knew it was where I was meant to be,” Valdez said.  

Valdez, excited to explore her interest and join the astronaut legacies, will miss the communities she had at McCallum.

“I think I have grown to appreciate all the unique types of people at McCallum,” Valdez said. “I am part of a bunch of different extracurriculars and it’s always been fun being with friends with different people with different perspectives and passions.”

Valdez expresses how much she’s grown with the people she’s connected with along the way. 

“I noticed through my times in PALS, debate, and band which all have different types of people they have helped me realize who I was and the kind person I wanted to be as well,” Valdez said. “McCallum has allowed me a lot of freedom to express myself, build a community around myself, and share a part of my life with some wonderful people.”

Caption by Eva Sanchez. Photo courtesy of Valdez. 

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