Astronaut touches down at Samo

On Dec. 14, renowned Samo alumnus Colonel Randy Bresnik (’85) touched back down to earth after his three-month long space expedition on the International Space Station (ISS). He returned to Samo on Apr. 20 for a face-to-face homecoming assembly with all of Samo’s students. In addition to welcoming him back, he was also inducted into the Samo alumni Hall of Fame. His visit led to second period being broken up into three sections, 2A, 2B and 2C, so that all students could experience the presentation without overcrowding. Each assembly had an appearance by a different California political official. At the first assembly that all Art, English, Music, PE and Business classes attended, Mayor of Santa Monica Ted Winterer came and presented a certificate to Bresnik. California Senator and Samo alumni Ben Allen attended the second assembly with all History and Language building classes. The third assembly was for all Innovation and Interim tennis court classes, in which a representative of United States Senator Dianne Feinstein played a presentation by herself and Richard Bloom.  For the duration of the assembly, Bresnik and his wife, Rebecca Bresnik, talked about their experiences working with NASA and his in space. Since Rebecca Bresnik is an attorney for NASA, she spoke about the legalities of the ISS and the future commercialization of NASA. Bresnik gave a summarized life story. He began with his childhood in Santa Monica, then to his work in the Marine Corps, his two expeditions to the ISS and ended with his current life in Houston, Texas. Coordinating this assembly with NASA entailed an extensive application and vetting process. Dean of Students Catherine Baxter began applying for Samo’s October skype session in the spring of 2016. The NASA collaborations have influenced Samo’s student life from weekly homeroom contests, to the selection of “The Martian” as a summer reading book. In addition to Friday’s assembly and the school-wide skype last October, Samo had another Homecoming event for Bresnik eight years ago when he returned from his first ISS trip, Expedition 52. According to the NASA government website, during Expedition 52 Bresnik served as a flight engineer and was later promoted to be Commander of his recent trip, Expedition 53.In addition to commandership for a mission, Bresnik’s experiences have also awarded him induction into the Samo Alumni Hall of Fame. The Samo Alumni Association announced via their Facebook account on Apr. 5 that Bresnik would officially be the hall’s newest inductee and first astronaut.“We know the students at Samo will be excited to see him on Apr. 20 and the Alumni Association is honored to be able to induct him into our school’s Hall of Fame. His presence will inspire future generations of Vikings to seek greatness in their own lives,” the Alumni Association’s announcement stated.Bresnik has served as a pillar of the Samo community for years. Like several Samo students, he went to Grant, JAMS, took SMC classes and then graduated to pursue his passions.“Life is a bunch of amazing, wonderful opportunities, cleverly disguised as impossible challenges. And you do not ever get a chance to go at those opportunities if you do not go out and seek them...Someday, this could be you. And I look forward to seeing that,” Bresnik said.