Why do I say this? The past couple of months we have been interviewing new candidates to fill a teaching position at the department. Our department sets up a time where students can sit down and just chat with the candidate. See what they are like and see how well they would fit within our department. We had another candidate lunch this past Thursday, and like how they all quickly disolve into the students talking about how much of a family atmosphere the Aerospace Department has. 
It is really unlike anything, I think, you will find in the world. We all know how important it is to help one another. This doesnt just go for students, the faculty and staff are the same way. Professors will bend over backwards to help a student with anything they need. One example of this is from last semseter. I was having a lot of problems understanding a class I was taking called Vibrations. I was telling my mom one day in the department how difficult it was and how much trouble I was having in the class. When one of my professors, Dr. KeKo, had overheard my phone call. He called me into his office once I was off of the phone, and proceeded to ask me about the class.
By the time I left his office he had offered to tutor me in the subject. Dr. KeKo, like all of our professors, are very busy with their own research, classes and students, and he decided to give me some of his precious time to help me with this subject that was quite honestly kicking my butt. And honestly, if he hadn't stepped up like he had, I would not have made it through that class. This is just one case of how awesome my department is. The students go out of their way to help one another and so do the professors. I am so incredibly lucky to be apart of such a great department. When we get the new candidates in we always go into a complete spill about how much we love our department. 
It is the people that knit it together to be as great as it is, and we want them to realize that if they want to come into this department. Last semester I realized that if our department had a song, it would be the Cheers theme song. "Some times you wanna go where everybody knows your name. And they're always glad you came...." That couldn't describe the MSU Aerospace Department more. That is how I feel when I walk into an ASE class or the Aero Lounge or the Aerospace First Friday (dinner at a bar with the department). It truly is special what we have here. I know this has probably been cheesy. Just a complete love fest at my department, but when you are in pursuit of a career in rocket science, it honestly is the best atmosphere to surround yourself in.
"The amazing thing is that every atom in your body came from a star that exploded. And, the atoms in your left hand probably came from a different star than your right hand. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics: You are all stardust. You couldn’t be here if stars hadn’t exploded, because the elements - the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, all the things that matter for evolution - weren’t created at the beginning of time. They were created in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and the only way they could get into your body is if those stars were kind enough to explode." -Lawrence Krauss
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