Memory Lane

NASA is transitioning to all-electronic personnel files for employees. As a result, I got a sealed envelope in my office mail today that contains all of the paperwork they had on file for me that they determined did not need to be transferred to my electronic record -- things like transcripts, training records and offer letters. It's pretty cool to look at because it contains a lot of paperwork from my days as a co-op. It's got random things like a copy of my letter of admission to the graduate program at Stanford, summaries that I had to write each semester to cover what I worked on as a co-op, and a copy of my transcript at the end of freshman year. (Straight A's, thank you very much. I did not maintain straight A's after my freshman year, but oh well.)

The best item by far is the very first letter I got from JSC, offering me a job as a co-op student. It was June 1997 and I had just finished my freshman year at Georgia Tech.

Dear Sarah:

Congratulations! We want you to join us as a Cooperative Education Student at the Johnson Space Center. You will be hired as a GS-3 with an annual salary of $17,332 on August 18, 1997...

I distinctly remember getting that letter, and $17,332 seemed like a LOT of money. How times change...