Computer scientist LaShana Lewis’s childhood dream of attending Space Camp starts to feel far away — until she gets the Christmas surprise of a lifetime, and when Guizella Rocabado leaves her home in Bolivia to pursue her education in the United States, her plan hits an unexpected snag.

Due to stress in her personal life, TV writer Joey Slamon develops a cyst in an unfortunate place, and on the day of biochemistry PhD student Kellie Vinal’s qualifying exam, nothing goes according to plan.

Miserable at her corporate job, Michelle McCrackin begins to dream of a career in wildlife biology, and volcanologist Ben Kennedy’s attempts to be taken seriously as a scientist are undermined by his youthful appearance.

On the eve of his first big talk, ecologist Kevin Burgio discovers there’s something seriously wrong with his wardrobe, and research assistant Devine Joyce struggles with feelings of depression, but an experience with a patient changes her outlook.

Mathematician Seth Cottrell sets up an ‘Ask a Mathematician’ booth at Burning Man, and herpetologist Joseph Mendelson struggles to connect with the locals while working in the field in Guatemala.