NEW BERLIN – Though he’d really like to be an exotic plant botanist, architect or technical engineer when he grows up, Unadilla Valley student Stefan Foster said he wouldn’t mind being a pilot on the side.

The sixth-grader recently learned a lot about piloting from one of the world’s best: Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon and pilot of Apollo Mission 11.

“He told me everything about what it was like to be an astronaut and a pilot,” the youth said.

Foster and two other Chenango County youths attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration festivities in January and have returned with memories of a lifetime and loads of inspiration.

“It was shoulder to shoulder,” said Emily Converse, also a sixth grader at Unadilla Valley. Though she said she couldn’t actually see Obama from her position on the U.S. Capitol Mall, the highlight of Converse’s trip was feeling the emotion of the crowd. “Everyone was chanting and cheering.”