WENDOVER — Dreams start out as simple, sometimes silly things but on Thursday a NASA astronaut distilled their potential to the students of Wendover High School.
Beaming down from the international space station orbiting Earth, Sandra Magnus answered questions posed by students ranging from what it is like to sleep in zero-gravity to what the first thing she would do upon returning home.
Whatever the question, she took every opportunity to try to inspire those listening to dream.
"Whether you want to be an astronaut, or whatever your dream is, I want you to remember to believe in yourself, that's the first thing," said Magnus, a flight engineer for NASA. "And be prepared to work hard and be prepared for it to take some time. It took over 20 years for me to be an astronaut from the point I decided that's what I wanted to do."
Like many, Magnus dreamed of flying in space, being weightless and looking down on the earth as a youngster, but it took bigger dreams to get her into space. The idea of always learning, being an explorer and advancing what mankind can do eventually led Magnus to her chosen career.
The main ingredient to achieving your dreams is pursuing what you love, Magnus said. A passion for science and engineering grew from her innate interest in discovering how things work and why they work the way they do.
Whatever their dream is, Magnus told the students it is important to find something they enjoy because it will shape their lives.
"If you're not sure how to get on the path to fulfilling your dreams ask questions ... there may be paths to get to your dream that you don't even know yet because you haven't run into it yet," Magnus said. "But the main ingredient is find something that you love to do that's fun because you're going to enjoy it and work hard at it."
In 2004 Wendover High School became a NASA explorer school enabling Carolyn Bushman, a math teacher at Wendover and advisor to the NASA club, to reach for the stars. Bushman said that the program has helped her and the students grow to new heights by showing them the potential education offers beyond the easy money available at the casinos across town.
"I've learned to really reach for the stars because dreams can come true," Bushman said. "That's become my motto, and my students get tired of hearing it, believe in yourself, say 'I can do it,' and what is impossible becomes possible when you start working and asking questions."
Bushman said every opportunity to engage with NASA is an inspiring event for students because it helps open windows of possibility. Cristofer Henderson, a seventh-grader at Wendover said that everything Magnus expressed was "completely true" and that he learned he doesn't need to settle on the first thing that comes along. Henderson said he wants to become a lawyer, and if he can make money at that he wants to build robots, too.
"To follow your dreams you've got to work for it, unless you're the luckiest person on earth, which really no one is," Henderson said. "I got to work harder than normal average people, I need to work towards my dreams and not just settle."
Gibran Iribarran, an eighth-grader in Wendover enjoyed the opportunity to ask Magnus a question as she orbited Earth.
"One of my dreams is to become a car designer," Iribarran said. "And (Magnus) has faith in students and that inspired me to keep on going. (Mrs. Bushman) says we can do things when other's say we can't and she inspires us by telling us we can reach our dreams if we believe in them."
E-mail: cnorlen@desnews.com