Not many people can say they’re rocket scientists. 2020 Laurel Ridge graduate Katie Borland is one of those who can.
Six years after earning her associate degree – she graduated from Millbrook High School a couple weeks later – Borland is an aerospace engineer for Blue Origin in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The summer before she started eighth grade, Borland read “The Martian,” by Andy Weir.
“That really kicked off an interest in space,” she said. “That’s what really hooked me. I’ve been with Blue Origin for 1½ years. I really love it. We’re launching rockets. Other companies are launching rockets. The building will start shaking in the middle of the day.
“We’ve got a lot of fun new stuff coming up. We’re very early on in a lot of our projects. You get to have a bigger say, even as a young engineer. I would love to be an astronaut.”
The future of space travel is changing, Borland said, pointing out that SpaceX has astronaut crews consisting solely of civilians. She said Blue Origin has sent people up on suborbital flights – up to the edge of space.
“Our intent is to keep doing that kind of thing, but on a greater scale, making space more accessible to everyone,” Borland said.
Katie Borland stands in front of a New Glenn rocket.
One of her best friends from high school also works at Blue Origin, although in a different line of work than her own. It was that friend who helped interest Borland in attending Mountain Vista Governor’s School (MVGS) on Laurel Ridge’s Middletown Campus. A third MVGS student also works at Blue Origin, according to Borland.
“I really loved the governor’s school,” said Borland. “It turned out to be great for me.”
She especially enjoyed the flex days MVGS offers once a week.
“We worked hard and they gave us brain breaks, which made it fun, and they treated us like adults,” Borland said. “Having only a few teachers and much smaller classes made the sense of community that much stronger. The main thing the governor’s school helped me with was preparing me for college. By the time I got to the University of Virginia, I thought, ‘This stuff is easy.’”
While her aerospace engineering program was four years, having all of the credits from her associate degree offered several other benefits.
“It allowed me to bypass a lot of base classes so I could take whatever fun classes I wanted to,” Borland said. “Also, I was able to do an astronomy minor. I ended up graduating in seven semesters because I took a semester off in the middle to do the Disney College program.
“The opportunities I was given through Mountain Vista Governor’s School and Laurel Ridge were such great ones. Without those opportunities, I think I would have felt a lot more behind when I got to U.Va. I’m super-grateful for all I was able to do there, and I encourage everyone to do it.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.