I visited Slave Lake Christian Academy a few months ago to take pictures of students watching a webinar featuring Canadian astronaut Jeremy R. Hansen. He spoke to academy students and other schools about Artemis II and his trip to the moon.
I never knew about his moon trip until I watched the video with the kids while taking pictures.
As you know, the Artemis II finally launched on April 1, with four astronauts travelling around the moon for 10 days. It was so cool!
Although they did not land on the moon, the crew spotted a moon crater. A moon crater is a deep surface feature we see on the moon. These deep surfaces are formed by collisions with asteroids and comets.
And guess what?
One of the craters was named after Reid Wiseman’s (one of the astronauts) late wife. Carroll.
Carroll is the name of that moon crater, and Artemis II confirmed that this crater is the brightest and shiniest lunar crater they found.
But how amazing is this?
I watched Greta Gerwig’s film Lady Bird years ago. This follows a teenage girl named Christine McPherson. But she gave herself the name “Lady Bird.”
I remembered Christine’s mother being annoyed at her for having this “stupid” name. But Christine stood up for herself because her name, Lady Bird, was an act of independence.
That was a cool idea in my opinion.
I always ask my mother why she gave me two names. My name is Julia, then Archelene. She said it was popular in the 2000s to give two names to children. And so that’s my name.
But I always told her before how I hated Archelene. Simple, nobody can pronounce or spell it right.
But my mom said it was a special name she never regretted giving me. She said it was a combination of her name and my father’s. ‘Ar’ is short for Arnold, and ‘Chel’ is short for Rechelle.
“Where did you get the ‘Ene’?” I asked my mother. And she would not answer. Probably to make Archelene sound better.
But the funny thing is, my parents never call me Archelene.
They always call me ‘Iya,’ a nickname for Julia, as far as I remember.
And I like it better.
I think people give names to people or things so they can be identified.
But I also think people give names or nicknames to someone or something to be remembered.
That astronaut named the moon crater he found Carroll, to remember his late wife.
Christine named herself Lady Bird so her mother and friends would remember her as an independent teenage girl.
And my parents gave me a nickname of Iya . . . maybe because they want to remember me as their little girl. I don’t remember them calling me Julia or Archelene even then.
Even in their texts, asking me if I have eaten, they would call me Iya.
And I think to be given a name or nickname, to be remembered, is a form of love. It shows you’re precious enough to be given a name or nickname.
And guess what? We all have names.
What’s your name?
Julia Magsombol