#SoCaltech: Veronika Voss

“I’m from Eyota, a rural town in southeastern Minnesota with around 2,000 residents. Since I can remember, I have always had my eyes on the sky. I have always been passionate about aviation. This is something my sister and I really bonded over; while she enjoyed flying, I preferred to stay on the ground and learn about how the aircraft worked.”

“When I was 16, I found a general aircraft engine maintenance session at the local airport. Afterwards, I approached the person leading the session to ask, ‘Do you know if there are any opportunities to get involved in doing maintenance?’ Eventually, after talking to the Rochester Airport mechanic, I was able to connect with a mentor who let me job shadow at Mayo Clinic Air Ambulance operations. Following that, I was able to explore the agricultural side of the aviation world at his private crop duster repair LLC, where I later became a trainee mechanic.”

“The aviation community has been very welcoming—anyone can be a part of it—and that’s why it is so amazing. If someone is passionate about aviation, you can talk with them about it for what seems like hours, because the people who love it really love it and want to share it with everyone.”

Veronika Voss joins Caltech this fall as a first-year undergraduate studying electrical engineering and aerospace engineering, in part because of outreach efforts by the STARS (Small Town and Rural Student) College Network. Caltech was one of the 16 inaugural members of STARS when it launched in 2023. STARS recently doubled its membership to include 32 of the most prominent institutions in the nation, all dedicated to helping students from small-town and rural America attend and graduate from the undergraduate program of their choice.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.