Paloma Valley's Pimentel shoots for the moon - and beyond

Alessandra Pimentel wants to be a fighter pilot and eventually an astronaut.

By Doug Spoon, Editor

Paloma Valley High School senior Alessandra Pimentel is a very busy young lady. With her participation in the Engineering Club, Paloma Press, Youth Leaders of Menifee, Crochet Club, Polynesian Dance Club, and volunteering at the March Air Museum, one wonders what her focus is.

Pimentel does not hesitate in telling you about her primary goal.

“I want to be an astronaut – and I won’t stop until I get it,” she said.

Pimentel was recently awarded an NROTC National Scholarship worth $200,000. There’s no doubt it will be put to good use in college. She is considering USC, Cal Poly Pomona and Emby Riddle Aeronautical University, but her first choice is the Air Force Academy. Pimentel plans to become a fighter pilot.

“Because my long-term goal is to become an astronaut, I checked into how I could get into position to do that,” she said. “A lot of astronauts start as fighter pilots. I want to do something like that – something bigger than myself. I want to be someone who explores life on another planet.”

Serving as a volunteer at the March Air Museum gives Pimentel a good introduction to the Air Force, she said. She works in the admissions office, sometimes as security, and meets a lot of former pilots.

“They’re a bunch of awesome people,” she said. “A lot of them are Vietnam vets. They are great to talk to.”

Pimentel is not a member of the Paloma Valley NJROTC program, but she’s involved in just about everything else. As captain of the Engineering Team, she is the only female on a team that is building a model rocket in hopes of qualifying for a national competition in Virginia.

Last year, Pimentel was part of a team that won a national competition in Washington D.C. with their model submarine. This year, the assigned project is to design a rocket than can reach a minimum of 790 feet and land safely without cracking two eggs that are carried on board.

“We’ve been testing it a lot. I felt so bad that our advisor bought two crates of eggs. I know how much they cost. We’ll probably end up cracking a lot of them,” she said with a laugh.

Pimentel also enjoys her position as assistant editor with Paloma Press, a student-run media organization that publishes news articles and broadcasts video reports.

“I like having a voice on topics,” she said. “We promote people on campus and I love sharing information, even topics that are sensitive

“I have no experience with ROTC, but I’m in so many extracurricular activities, I think that showed my leadership to the scholarship committee,” she said.

As a member of the Ohana Mahi Aloha dance club, Pimentel teaches Polynesian dance to beginning students. Then as President of the Youth Leaders of Menifee, she joins with classmates and students of other local high schools to plan and volunteer at city events.

In addition to volunteering at the Menifee Fall Festival and Christmas Tree Lighting, the Youth Leaders of Menifee developed a “Ready, Set, Future” college fair for students. The environmental team organizes park cleanups.

“It’s all about the connection,” Pimentel said. “I love working with people.”

It might be kind of lonely on a mission to Mars, but Pimentel knows what her passion is and she’s determined to get it.