Reinvented Magazine, an organization that focuses on advocacy for women in STEM, holds a gala every year to connect women in the space industry and raise money for the magazine’s efforts. For their 2025 Space Gala, there was a scholar application, where, if chosen, the cost of the ticket to the event would be covered for the student. Only when I was selected did it hit me that I would have to travel around 2,500 miles from Caltech to Kennedy Space Center, all during the weekend of both Halloween and midterms.
October 31, 2025 could only be described by the word “chaos.” I had barely packed, and was scheduled to leave campus at 5:30 pm to catch my 9:00 pm flight from LAX to Orlando. And it was Halloween. Everything turned out fine, and I landed in Florida the next morning, November 1. After taking a much needed nap, I ate a late lunch at a place called Cafe Surfinista.
Once the necessities (sleep and food) were taken care of, the entire rest of the day was dedicated to the gala. I made my way to the Kennedy Space Center Rocket Garden. I’m not sure what I expected from something called a “Rocket Garden,” but it is quite literally just a bunch of rockets arranged like trees in a forest.
I ended up meeting a lot of the other students who were named Space Gala scholars, and it was so cool to be able to talk about the work they did and their experiences. I met undergrad and grad students from universities around the country, engineers from aerospace companies, and even astronauts. Everyone had incredible outfits, and I even met some attendees who made their dresses themselves! I got mine from the Pasadena City College Flea Market, and a lot of my jewelery from Etsy.
The main programming was hosted by engineer and YouTuber Xyla Foxlin. There was a buffet dinner with AMAZING brownies, but more importantly, they announced the cohort of scholars, as well as the recipients for the different awards honoring outstanding women.
The afterparty was also a blast! There was a performance by electric violinist Mia Asano as well as a DJ set from astrophysicist and science communicator Scott Manley. We were all dancing in a circle, and one of the photographers gave me a small camera so I could film the action.
While I had to quickly go back to campus and face the reality that it was still midterms, I left the Gala inspired and excited for what’s next in my career!
Starships are meant to fly!
-Alana Nisperos
