My 18 year long love letter to space and science fiction
Firstly, I fear I must address the title of this post as it is hyperbole. I do not turn 18 for just over a month and besides as much as I adore space I did not come out of the womb with this love. Now that my pedantic ass has clarified, time for the actual content. I find it odd when I think about just how big of an impact space has had on my life. When I was in primary school I was enamoured by space. I was the type of kid who always had a random fact about everything, but even then, I would hazard a guess that most 7 year olds would not know what an astrophysicist was. Hell, even my mam had to google it. My primary school used to do this thing called 'big me day' where you would dress up as what you wanted to be in the future. Not knowing what an astrophysicist would wear, my mam dressed me in an astronaut costume. Now I understand why she did this, but I remember being so mad about it at the time. It must have been funny for the teachers to have had a really grumpy 7/8 year old (this happened two years in a row mind you) that *no* I did *not* want to be an astronaut, I wanted to be an astrophysicist. The year I got a telescope for Christmas was a very good year indeed.
As I got older and I moved to secondary school, I made the unfortunate realisation that as much as I loved space, I wasn't particularly good at any of the other topics in physics. I'm sure you can see how this put a roadblock in my dreams. While I would leave secondary school with a grade 8 in physics (which is somewhere between an old A and A*) despite missing two years due to the pandemic, I knew this was the end of the dream of being an astrophysicist. Following the Covid 19 pandemic my love for science fiction exploded. From space exploration to time machines I loved it all. I started with Doctor who, before moving onto Torchwood and so many other pieces of media. Within the past two years I have listened to podcasts such as Wolf 359, as well as finally watching Star wars. My most recent endeavour has been watching and reading project hail mary. I've been meaning to read it for years, my friend even leant me his copy to read before the film came out. Long story short I failed to read it before the movie came out due to a combination of school work getting in the way, and good old procrastination and demand avoidance. Anyways, I digress, two days ago I watched the film and became immediately, irrevocably obsessed. I started the book last night and less than 24 hours later I have all but finished it. This book has consumed my soul. When I look up at the stars, I wonder a great many things. I wonder if anyone else is looking at the exact same star at that moment. I wonder how many generations of people have looked at this exact star. I wonder if the star still exists or if we are just living in its past with it having long since died. I even wonder if there is something looking back. All this to say I love space, and I love science fiction. From scientists to authors, I say thank you for everything. And finally? I say hi to The Doctor and their companions, the crews of the Hephaestus (both old and new, with a special mention to Victoire Fourier and Kuan Hui as they're astrophysicists), the crew of the millenium falcon, Ryland Grace and Rocky, and everyone else to ever walk the stars.
