BLUEFIELD — Click here for video
America’s space agency isn’t launching space shuttles anymore, but there are still careers to be found for college graduates with science and engineering degrees, area high school students were told Tuesday.
Presented by the Emerging Leaders Institute at Bluefield State College, the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium Workshop focused on the benefits of a college degree, the possibilities offered by the ROTC, and NASA internships.
The last space shuttle launch was July 8, 2011, but this does not mean that NASA is dead, Dr. Majid Jaridi, the consortium’s director, told students assembled in the Katharine Tierney Center.
Basically, the space shuttle was like a truck that transported cargo into near-Earth orbit, he said. Despite the program’s end, there are still many job opportunities at NASA.
“Now NASA is doing wonderful stuff,” Jaridi said.
“We need astronauts in the future. Don’t ever think that you can’t be an astronaut, but you need to be a great, great student.”
Astronaut is not the only job possibility at NASA or the only one that generates internships for college students. Students focused on fields including science, technology, engineering or mathematics can also obtain internships at NASA facilities such as the Kennedy Space Center.
Amy Diznoff of the consortium program said outreach grants for teachers, scholarships for students, and other benefits are available.
“We want you to know that if you go to school in West Virginia, we’re here for you,” she said. “If you’re going into a STEM related program – science, technology, engineering or math, the space grant consortium is here for you. We want to offer you money to do research; we want you all to succeed. Please come find us. Please check out our web site.”
Speakers with ROTC who also participate in the NASA program encouraged the students to enter college. Seeming obstacles such as grades and financing can be overcome, said ROTC member John Perrine. College graduates have much greater earning potential than people who have only a high school diploma, and obtaining a college degree is a more realistic goal than, for instance, becoming a sports star, he said.
“The chances of becoming a pro athlete is .000565 percent,” he said. A person has a better chance of being struck by lighting, marrying a super model or becoming a movie star.
Some high school graduates decide they can make more money elsewhere and decide not to attend college, but this also is a mistake, he said. Jaridi later added that while the unemployment rate is 14 to 15 percent for high school graduates, it is only 4 percent for college graduates with a science degree.
Capt. Karissa Skiba, who is in the Air Force ROTC, encouraged the students to consider ROTC membership.
In the Air Force branch, the goal is to earn a commission as an active duty second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.
