Some Days Change Your Life - Today Was One Of Those Days

Students - as you go through life, events are going to happen to you that you may be expecting, but most likely, will totally catch you by surprise.  These days and events will change you, shape you, and make you become a better person.

Today was totally one of those days for me.  I have had many "life-changing" days so far in my life - meeting my wife, having our baby, getting selected to be an instructor at Space Camp, and getting selected to be a teacher at the Probe Center.  Today, however, is going to rank right up there with one of the best days of my life.

We started out the day by meeting people who truly inspire and make a difference.  These people shared one thing - passion.  They spoke from the heart.  They had conviction, and have only gotten to the high position they now held through hard work and perseverance.  We got to hear from NASA's Chief Technologist, Space Shuttle Discovery Flow Manager, Space Shuttle Orbiter Engineering Manager, and oh yeah, and astronaut, Janet Voss.

Each one of these individuals were so kind and generous to come talk to us about something that we really can't relate to on a lot of levels.  They are much more "in-the-know" than we are, yet they wanted to share their passion; they wanted to "fan the flames" in our love for human spaceflight.  It was amazing. 

When Astronaut Janet Voss spoke today to us, she was like a rock star.  Everyone was star-struck.  She could not have been more kind, compassionate, and inspiring.  She talked about what it was like to travel to space - what scared her, and how the crew would entertain themselves.  It was at this point I realized something - these are "real" people like us. 

I have always grown up thinking that astronauts are super-human, after all, these men and women have more courage that I could ever being to muster.  These men and women travel over 17,000 miles per hour on their commutes, and can make a commute all the way around our planet in 90 minutes.  How are they not super-human?

Yet today, we got to see that everyone who spoke to us was very human and that was such a great thing.  It is going to help me share with my student that they can become anything they want to be.  These were not the kids in school who always got Straight A's, yet they worked hard and make their dreams come true.  They are fired up for what course they have set out on in life, and I want my students to find their passion and ride it like a rocket to the stars!

As for myself, I think some of that passion re-ignited my boosters to make sure that I can inspire people like I was inspired today.  I could not have been more excited, more connected, and more in awe of human spaceflight as I was today.  This truly was a day that will live with me forever, and will forever shape who I am.

Did I mention that we got to go up to Space Shuttle Atlantis today to see the Rotating Service Structure retract so we could get our picture with our favorite orbiter?  I will update that information in the morning.

It is time for dreams of what is to come tomorrow - to see Space Shuttle Atlantis head to space for the final time, and see "real" humans become super-human once again!