Four MGCCC students chosen for NASA program
Four MGCCC students from the Harrison County campus were selected to take part in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars Program.
MGCCC has been a partner with NASA, mainly with Stennis Space Center and the NCAS program.
The program is only open to community colleges. The students chosen were Christian Colson, Antoine Nguyen, Alan Cortes, and Juan Rivera.
The NCAS program is a proto-internship for NASA and can culminate in a multi-day onsite with engineers and astronauts on a current live NASA project.
NASA Astronaut Victor Glover spoke about the program from aboard the International Space Station. “The program – once you’re selected – you will take competitive 5-week online courses that are developed by NASA to teach you all about our missions and research. But don’t worry, you won’t be alone in this course. You will have instructional assistance who will support you as you complete your course work. You will also participate in discussions with community college students all over the country and you can live chat with NASA experts and learn directly from their lectures. If you perform well on this course, you may qualify for a 4-day on campus event where you can discover career opportunities in your community, tour local science and technology facilities, and learn about NASA internships.”
Alan Cortes said he was surprised to be selected. Cortes said when he received an email, he thought he was rejected, being surprised when he read further. He is originally from Mexico and says he never dreamed he’d be working with NASA. Cortes says he is a first-generation college student and this is a dream come true.
Antoine Nguyen has made it known he wanted to participate in the NCAS program as far back as January of this year. He said he wanted to work at NASA since 5th grade and is awestruck he actually has the chance. His C++ Instructor Allison Mull said Nguyen takes the hard skills to heart.
Miller said he also emphasized the soft skills that also matter.
