Every dream begins somewhere. Sometimes, it starts with a story that captures your imagination or a person who shows you what is possible. At AstraFemina, we know how powerful that spark can be. Seeing someone who has walked a path you hope to follow can change everything.
In this feature, AstraFemina President Dr. Sandra Magnus shares how her own journey began with a newspaper article about the first women selected as NASA astronauts. That single moment shaped her path and her belief in the power of role models to open doors for the next generation. Her story is a reminder that inspiration often starts with one person daring to dream.
I was a young girl, about to enter middle school in a small town in southern Illinois, when the dream of being an astronaut and flying in space captured my imagination. It was a big dream, almost frightening in its impossibility. I had no idea if women could become astronauts or even how one goes about becoming an astronaut. Nonetheless, the idea wormed its way into my heart, and I was not deterred; my eleven-year-old self, with the optimism of youth, was determined to find a path.
I was entering high school in August 1978 when my world expanded for the first time. The Belleville News-Democrat, our hometown paper, ran a front-page, full-page article about the first women to be selected to the NASA astronaut corps. To this day, when remembering the power of that story and its effect on me, I still have a visceral emotional reaction. Reading that article, I suddenly knew my dream was possible. NASA was selecting women to be astronauts! Those women became my immediate role models. The message I got that day was clear: because they could do it, I, too, could become an astronaut.
That experience instilled in me a strong appreciation for the importance of role models. Role models come in all forms, and at their core is the sense of connection they can create with a young person. Gender and ethnicity are clear and common connections that are easily made, but they are not the sum total of a role model’s power to inspire youth. For example, after my first spaceflight, I returned to my hometown to talk to as many schools as I could, serving as a role model for what a person from Belleville, Illinois—young man or woman—could achieve. The connection was geographic. Consequently, we can all serve as role models to anyone we connect with, and as role models, our impact is important. We inspire youth to dream and to chart broad futures for themselves.
My next world-expanding experience was in college. Advancing from middle school to high school, I had been exposed to various sciences—chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and ecology—and knew enough to understand that to be an astronaut, I needed to be proficient in math and science. Lacking any other exposure to a broader selection, I settled early on physics as my field of study for college. I liked math, was good at it, and had a burning curiosity about why and how the world works the way it does; physics called to me. I took all the physics classes I could in preparation for entering college with the goal of earning a bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. in the subject before applying to the astronaut office.
Then I set foot on the campus of the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri, and discovered engineering—and was intrigued. I had never been exposed to the field and had no idea it existed prior to entering college. I was fascinated that there was a field of study that took the “why” and “how” and applied that knowledge to create new technologies, processes, and techniques that helped people and advanced human civilization. I finished my bachelor’s in physics and, instead of pursuing physics at the graduate level, switched my focus to electrical engineering, a new interest.
That experience instilled in me the importance of exposing young people, as early as possible, to a broad set of ideas and possibilities so they can envision their futures. It is impossible to be what you cannot see. Entering high school and planning for college, I could not have imagined that I would enjoy engineering because I had never been exposed to it. Role models can serve as a bridge for young people, introducing them to fields of study, careers, and life paths that they cannot yet imagine. Sharing your journey and lessons with young people provides them with valuable information that not only expands their horizons but also gives them the benefit of your experience as they plan their path. It’s never too late to have an impact on a young person’s life.
