Melina Thévenot
NASA Citizen Scientist
I had too much time available and wanted to do something useful. The CERN website had an article about the "Higgs Hunters" (a Zooniverse project). Later I tried other projects, including NASA ones.
Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, because brown dwarfs. Galaxy Zoo (Voorwerpje Hunt) — these pretty "Voorwerpjes." Cedar Creek: Eyes on the Wild — Oh deer!
Doing science without NASA. Listening to music. Taking care of myself whenever I get depressed.
With the NASA and non-NASA projects, I learned a lot about astronomy. I learned what failure feels like and that it's ok. I also met a lot of different people and learned about their struggles. I think it allowed me to feel less alone.
As a child, I think I had a book with pictures of the planets from Voyager 1 and 2 (thank you NASA) and another book about general astronomy with lots of pictures. I also remember a book that explained how electric devices work. As a dyslexic child, books with lots of pictures and little text were important, and I guess I still wanted books appropriate for my age. These were my favorite books then. Later chemistry became important for me — it was just fascinating that all things are made out of these little atoms and molecules.
Try a project, and after a month or a week, whether you like it or not, try another project. Do this until you find the project that you like most. It is not about being successful or doing a project that sounds amazing. It is about having fun with the project.
Planetary science is a global profession.