{"id":139,"date":"2021-06-29T18:40:39","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T18:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cctech.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-1-issue-1\/student-success-from-cctc-to-nasa\/"},"modified":"2021-07-22T18:58:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T18:58:14","slug":"student-success-from-cctc-to-nasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cctech.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-1-issue-1\/student-success-from-cctc-to-nasa\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Success: From CCTC to NASA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">For <span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans Bold';\">Solonda Wesley<\/span>, following the crowd was never the option. She always wanted to stand out, and with her current internship with NASA, she can do just that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">Wesley is currently a Computer and Information Technology student at Central Carolina Technical College and an intern with NASA, where she is working with the Exploration Technology Office (ETO). Wesley works with the Technology Development Team to identify key technologies needed to achieve human exploration priorities along the pathway to the moon and to Mars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">In addition, Wesley helps the ETO develop a technology portfolio to ensure critical needs are prioritized, developed and delivered. With this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she will\u00a0\u00a0work on additional projects for her degree as assigned by her mentors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">Wesley originally wanted to be a civil engineer with NASA, but later wanted something more complex and different that would allow her to step out of her comfort zone. She found another passion in technology which made her pursue this internship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">\u201cI have a passion for technology,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cIn today\u2019s world, everything is technology based. There\u2019s nothing you can do that does not have some form of technology attached to it. To be a part of it and help fix it, that\u2019s me. I am a fixer-upper. Call on me and I\u2019m there to solve the problem. You can teach others, which is what the ETO does. It teaches technology and how it can help NASA with their mission.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">Wesley is also excited about the one-of-a-kind networking opportunities that her internship provides, opening up even more doors for her in the future and setting her apart from the crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">\u201cAnother benefit of this internship is that you meet other people,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cYou don\u2019t just network with your mentors; you are networking with other people. It\u2019s a great way to segue into government work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">This networking gives Wesley options for her future that she never dreamed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">\u201cThis internship alone can open so many doors. You don\u2019t have to stick with NASA. They want you to network with government officials and I find that to be extraordinary,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cNever in a million years would I have ever thought I would be chosen to do work with such prestigious people. I\u2019m so excited to see where this goes for me. It\u2019s been a lifelong dream of mine.\u201d<\/span><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-uw-styling-context=\"true\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">Despite all of the work Wesley has done and will continue to do with NASA, she is forever grateful for the resources made available to her at Central Carolina..<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-uw-styling-context=\"true\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">\u201cI could cry tears of joy,\u201d Wesley said. \u201cThere are so many people who encouraged and motivated me. At first I wasn\u2019t going to apply for the NASA internship. Then Ms. Renee Patchin said, \u2018Hey Solonda, why not? Do it.\u2019 My instructors motivated me even more to keep going forward. I\u2019m so grateful for Central.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-uw-styling-context=\"true\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">Following graduation, Wesley wants to attend the University of South Carolina for her bachelor\u2019s degree in computer science. She hopes to stay with the ETO office in NASA, either in Texas or Florida.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For Solonda Wesley, following the crowd was never the option. She always wanted to stand out, and with her current internship with NASA, she can do just that. Wesley is currently a Computer and Information Technology student at Central Carolina Technical College and an intern with NASA, where she is working with the Exploration Technology&#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/cctech.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-1-issue-1\/student-success-from-cctc-to-nasa\/\">read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1],"tags":[],"article_type":[],"class_list":["post-139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-story","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3.1 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Student Success: From CCTC to NASA - Fall 2021, Volume 1 \u2013 Issue 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cctech.mycareerfocus.org\/fall-2021-volume-1-issue-1\/student-success-from-cctc-to-nasa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student Success: From CCTC to NASA - Fall 2021, Volume 1 \u2013 Issue 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For Solonda Wesley, following the crowd was never the option. She always wanted to stand out, and with her current internship with NASA, she can do just that. 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