“I’m one of those people, I love to learn, and, I know that, if I had a job, that ah, I couldn’t continue my learning, that would hinder me in some way. And so I think that was one thing that really attracted me to NASA. Just the opportunities to learn. We’re making innovative things here, and, so to me that’s very important. I’m contributing to the betterment of society, so, that’s definitely important for me. NASA’s definitely a place where you can do that.”
“By working for NASA I’m actually contributing to the greater good. We’re learning about the universe. We’re learning about our place in the universe, how do we fit in…how did we even get here…? You realize that for the first time, as a society, we have the ability to answer these questions scientifically. Just by being able to make people’s lives better, I think that’s worthwhile. I think trying to understand how we fit in to this crazy picture of this complicated universe, I think that’s interesting as well.”
I am very passionate about being a materials engineer. And…it’s because I see – the applications, everything is so practical. I’ll be at a party and something will fail and I’ll say “let me see that, come here, I’ll tell you, what happened to this” – if it was made incorrectly, if was used incorrectly, and so I – it’s a career where you can apply it anywhere and its also a very fulfilling career at NASA because everything that you’re looking at is so unique.”
“This is not a dress rehearsal – we are in the play, so, we have to keep on moving forward, and
keep a positive attitude, and, keep on going.”
“At the end of the day I don’t really feel that I answer to any project manager or center director,
I answer to my conscience and the taxpayers of this country, because they’re the one’s who allow
us to do what we do. And it’s important to me we give them something that’s meaningful to them. “
“Just go for it, because, if it’s an obstacle for what I want, it’s still going to be there whether I want it to be or not. And, it’s
amazing how much you can grow when you decide you’re just going to conquer that thing and
not let that thing conquer you.”
“NASA’s a wonderful place, because, we can be what we want to be. We can be a girl, and, we can still
love math. And still, want to turn a wrench…or, or, um, you know, work onna piece of machinery
which wouldn’t normally be something you would do. NASA is a very good place for girls.
We can be what we want to be.”
“I do what I do to empower people. Go out there and make a difference for yourself, for NASA, and
this country – and we’ll all be better off for it.”
“It’s just funny to wake up in space and think, ‘Wow! I’m in space!’ you know…it’s ah, not like waking up in your bedroom at home. It is beautiful. As a geologist it was just awesome for me to see the big scale. Um, mountain chains, and folded mountain belts, and just coast lines and everything. You’ve looked at so many amazing pictures of the crews that have gone before you, but, a picture has a limit. It has those edges. And you’re suddenly not being limited through the window. It just took my breath away. “
“This group I’m working with is just a really interesting group of people. One of my co-workers here
has described it as ‘a group of people you’d be willing to hang out with outside of work'”.
“Push yourself. Go beyond your comfort zone. You’ll grow as a person and that is the kind of thing that helps us grow as a culture and as humanity. So find confidence in your own place, and push yourself, that extra little bit, to help yourself advance.”
“I wanted to use the math and the science that I had – in school. The equations, and, and, and being able to ah, you know, calculate, or estimate, or predict what is going to happen – the fact that you can put equations on things that happen every day in our life is fascinating to me. And I love that part.”
“I wanted to change my name to ‘Lisa Smith’ for the longest time. And it wasn’t until I became age 18 and I had the legal right at that time to change my name at that point and time that I decided ‘you know, I’m okay with being QuynGiao Nguyen. It’s, it’s okay. […] Be passionate about everything you do and I don’t just mean about math and science in general. But be passionate about life. You only have this one opportunity to live this life and to live your dreams. So live it to the fullest. And when you are passionate, about what you do, others will see it.”
Terrific Resources:
(Factual Fiction transcriptions…”ums”, “ahs”, “and you knows” are not meant to be insulting ; )