Gardella is majoring in Aerospace Engineering
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Being a scholar-athlete at Florida Tech takes an incredible amount of hard work and dedication to excel both in the classroom and on the field. We caught up with Panther men’s rower Sandro Gardella, a sophomore who is majoring in Aerospace Engineering, for this edition of Scholar-Athlete Spotlight.
Sandro made the journey to Melbourne from La Punta, Callao, Peru, and serves as the stroke seat of the Varsity 4+ and Varsity 8+ for the Panthers. In addition, last month earned a spot on the Peruvian National Team, who will be competing to qualify for this summer’s Olympic Games.
Gardella is also an exceptional 4.0 student, having been named to the Florida Tech Dean’s List multiple times.
Sandro joined us to talk about why he chose Florida Tech and how his education is preparing him for a career geared toward the skies.
■ Tell us a little bit about your major and what made you choose it?
I’m majoring now in aerospace engineering, and I chose it because, for me, it’s incredible knowing that those really big structures such as airplanes or rockets are capable of flight and taking us to a different planet is incredible.
■ There’s quite a few paths you could take with that degree, what do you have in mind?
I love supersonic airplanes. That’s my passion and that’s something that I would really like to design when I finish my major here.
■ What was it about Florida Tech that made you want to be here?
The fact that we are so close to the Kennedy Space Center, it’s incredible for me. Knowing that sometimes I can go outside my classroom when we finish classes, see all the people hanging around, and there’s a rocket launch, that’s something that I couldn’t imagine happening.
■ What’s something you’ve learned at Florida Tech about your major that you didn’t know before?
The amount of research that is related to aerospace in general and engineering. It’s crazy to know that someone that’s next to me in the classroom is doing research that they could use in the future. So that’s crazy how us, at just 20 years old, are able to be part of really big research. So that’s incredible.
■ How has being a collegiate athlete prepared you for what you’re doing now and what lessons have you taken from the court that apply to your studies?
Yes, rowing is a very special sport. Just the fact that we have to wake up every single day at 5am because we have a practice. That really helped me to manage my time, knowing that I have a practice in the afternoon, and I have to arrange my whole day, my classes. So, being able to use all those responsibilities, punctuality and those kind of things on my classes has really helped me.
■ What advice would you give to an athlete coming to Florida Tech that has an interest in Aerospace Engineering?
Enjoy the process! I know it’s a really hard major, I know it’s really hard being a student-athlete, and in this kind of major, it’s really hard, but enjoy the process. Enjoy that you are here, you have really good friends, you have really good professors, the classes are amazing. So, enjoy the sport, enjoy the classes.
■ What’s something you’ve done in the classroom that you’re most proud of?
I’m really proud of being able to doing really good with rowing, but at the same time, do really good with my classes. I know that it’s really hard for partners that are in my classroom that are doing the same things as I am, but also I have to do rowing every single day. Knowing that I’m able to manage both things every single day is something that it opened my eyes when I came here
CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS
The post Florida Tech Panther Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Recognizes Rower Sandro Gardella appeared first on Space Coast Daily.