For years now, Alex Goodan, a senior at Olympic High School, has known what he wanted to do with his life.

“I want to get an engineering degree and then join the service,” he said.

This past summer, he and two other OHS students, Nicole Cruz and Karen Malijan, were given an opportunity from the Washington Aerospace Scholars to take part in a summer residency program at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Goodan and Malijan said this was just what they needed to prove to themselves the path they had chosen is definitely the right way to go.

The trio graduated this summer from WAS’ competitive educational program for high school juniors interested in science, technology, engineering and math. They were among 150 students who qualified for the program from 260 students who applied.

Malijan, who aspires to become a chemical engineer, said she found out about the program through OHS’ career center and decided to apply. But the application itself does not guarantee acceptance into the residency part of the program.

She said they spent six months studying what Central Kitsap School District called a “NASA-designed, distance-learning curriculum via the Internet.” Based on their academic performance, they were selected to attend the residency program.

“As graduates of WAS, these students join more than 380 alumni representing 170 different Washington high schools,” David Beil, CKSD spokesman, stated in a press release.

The WAS program is designed to inspire students to pursue degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering and math, but students also learn about mission management, budgets, the legal aspects of space exploration and medicine.

“I definitely found out more about how I work with other people on a team,” Malijan said.

The students also got to hear from speakers in many fields of scientific study from doctors, science and math teachers and even astronauts.

Another bonus, according to Goodan, was a tour of the Boeing facility in Seattle where they were able to get up close to large planes and the equipment used to work on them.

“We got the VIP tour,” Malijan said.

All expenses, including travel, meals and lodging, are provided to students free of charge by the Washington Aerospace Scholars Foundation, so students had no expenses during the program and the experience provided will last a lifetime, according to Goodan.

“This is a very prestigious event in science fields,” he said. “It is going to look good on our resumes.”