NASA astronaut Christina Koch inspires North Carolina A&T engineering students in Greensboro visit
GREENSBORO, N.C. —
It was an exciting day for North Carolina A&T University engineering students, as a small group got to meet NASA astronaut Christina Koch face to face and even ask her a few questions.
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When Koch walked into the room, you could see students’ faces light up in excitement, face to face with a living legend. They spent part of their morning asking questions about space travel, engineering and more.
“It’s not every day you see someone that’s been in space,” said student Malachi Cofield. “So it’s just very overwhelming with inspiration.”
Cofield, an aeronautical and astronautical student, says learning about the science of space travel directly from Koch is leagues different than learning about it from a textbook.
“If you can’t see it, it’s hard to kind of believe it and fathom it,” he said. “So, getting able to see that you’re face to face asking someone that’s been there, done that, it’s just a different level of inspiration.”
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It’s not just the science; Koch spoke about how her path to the Artemis 2 mission wasn’t a straight shot, encouraging students to embrace unique paths to achieving their dreams.
“To me, the best way to contribute to something I loved as much as human spaceflight was to do what I was good at, and then see if I gained the skills to make those contributions,” Koch told students. “And so, working in these remote places, it was a little bit of a leap of faith.”
It’s a message that resonated with students like Naya Shelvin.
“I didn’t always have aerospace in my mind,” Shelvin said. “I didn’t always think it was a possibility for me. I come from a small town, so I have never seen a Black woman aerospace engineer. I’m so glad that I can now go into my final year with that in mind, that I’m not the only one who has had these struggles, who has had these problems, but I see people who have come out on top, and I know that I can do the same.”
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Naya and Malachi say after Koch’s visit they’re not just inspired, they’re motivated, and they’re looking forward to what the future has in store.