Page 22 - Inspire Health November/December 2015
P. 22
women who inspire Alyssa and her dad have established a
charitable foundation that raises money
SHOOTING to help send kids to Space Camp. They
named the foundation, “The Blueberry
FOR THE STARS Foundation” after Alyssa's NASA call
By Michelle Fouchi Esneault sign, Blueberry. “It was given to me by
my Space Camp counselor. He said I
AAlyssa gets the last stamp on her NASA Passport from former astronaut Wendy Lawrence. looked like a blueberry in my flight suit,"
sk a 3‑year‑old what they Alyssa has an impressive list of Alyssa explains.
want to be when they grow accomplishments. She speaks several
Alyssa is a budding celebrity. She gave
up and they’re likely to say languages, including English, Spanish, French, a TEDx talk in Greece and a speech at
X‑STEM, a Washington, D.C., symposium
a princess, a superhero or a firefighter. Chinese and Turkish. She has witnessed for students in grades 6‑12 featuring
innovators in STEM (science, technology,
For most kids, their aspirations eventually three Space Shuttle launches, attended engineering and math.) She appears
regularly at local schools to encourage
change. Not for 14‑year‑old Alyssa Carson. the Sally Ride Camp at the Massachusetts girls’ interest in STEM subjects and to
inspire kids to follow their dreams.
Her dream has remained consistent: Be Institute of Technology and has become
“I think it’s important for kids not to
one of the first humans on Mars. the first person to complete the NASA allow someone else to decide what their
dreams should be or to tell them that
they can’t do something. We really can
do anything,” she says.
Alyssa has planned the next 20
years of her life. She wants to get her
certifications and pilot's license. She
wants to go to college, first at the
University of Cambridge in the United
Kingdom, then the International Space
University and M.I.T. "I've always felt
positive about my plan," she says. "Over
the years it has changed a bit, but I
never doubted it."
Alyssa finds time to play soccer, dance
ballet and enjoy piano. She’s a Girl Scout
and in her school’s drama club. “I see
myself as someone who has a deep drive
and passion, someone who is focused on
her career," she says. "But at the same
time I lead a regular 14‑year‑old life.”
Alyssa first got the idea of going to Passport Program, going to all 14 NASA
Mars when she was 3 years old. "I was Visitor Centers in the United States.
watching TV, and these kids went off on Recently, Alyssa enrolled in college
a mission to Mars," she relates. "I wanted level classes at the International Space
to be one of those kids." That got her University in Strasbourg, France. She
more interested in space, which grew has attended Space Camp seven times,
into her desire to become an astronaut. becoming the first person to complete
When Alyssa was 9 years old, she met all of NASA’s World Space Camps in
astronaut Sandra Magnus, who told Huntsville, AL; Laval, Canada; and the
Alyssa that she decided to become an Aegean Free Zone in Izmir, Turkey.
astronaut when she was 9 years old. Ikedtilhdrseiesnatnkmooistdt’tessochiiomaduleplldoowrwhbtaeas.ntotmthfeoeorirne Alyssa sits tionuarnoFf/AN‑A18SAcoAckr mpist tdrournign.g
"Because I was 9 at the time, it showed a special
me that you could start young and
succeed in your dreams," Alyssa says.
22 INSPIRE HEALTH November § December 2015
charitable foundation that raises money
SHOOTING to help send kids to Space Camp. They
named the foundation, “The Blueberry
FOR THE STARS Foundation” after Alyssa's NASA call
By Michelle Fouchi Esneault sign, Blueberry. “It was given to me by
my Space Camp counselor. He said I
AAlyssa gets the last stamp on her NASA Passport from former astronaut Wendy Lawrence. looked like a blueberry in my flight suit,"
sk a 3‑year‑old what they Alyssa has an impressive list of Alyssa explains.
want to be when they grow accomplishments. She speaks several
Alyssa is a budding celebrity. She gave
up and they’re likely to say languages, including English, Spanish, French, a TEDx talk in Greece and a speech at
X‑STEM, a Washington, D.C., symposium
a princess, a superhero or a firefighter. Chinese and Turkish. She has witnessed for students in grades 6‑12 featuring
innovators in STEM (science, technology,
For most kids, their aspirations eventually three Space Shuttle launches, attended engineering and math.) She appears
regularly at local schools to encourage
change. Not for 14‑year‑old Alyssa Carson. the Sally Ride Camp at the Massachusetts girls’ interest in STEM subjects and to
inspire kids to follow their dreams.
Her dream has remained consistent: Be Institute of Technology and has become
“I think it’s important for kids not to
one of the first humans on Mars. the first person to complete the NASA allow someone else to decide what their
dreams should be or to tell them that
they can’t do something. We really can
do anything,” she says.
Alyssa has planned the next 20
years of her life. She wants to get her
certifications and pilot's license. She
wants to go to college, first at the
University of Cambridge in the United
Kingdom, then the International Space
University and M.I.T. "I've always felt
positive about my plan," she says. "Over
the years it has changed a bit, but I
never doubted it."
Alyssa finds time to play soccer, dance
ballet and enjoy piano. She’s a Girl Scout
and in her school’s drama club. “I see
myself as someone who has a deep drive
and passion, someone who is focused on
her career," she says. "But at the same
time I lead a regular 14‑year‑old life.”
Alyssa first got the idea of going to Passport Program, going to all 14 NASA
Mars when she was 3 years old. "I was Visitor Centers in the United States.
watching TV, and these kids went off on Recently, Alyssa enrolled in college
a mission to Mars," she relates. "I wanted level classes at the International Space
to be one of those kids." That got her University in Strasbourg, France. She
more interested in space, which grew has attended Space Camp seven times,
into her desire to become an astronaut. becoming the first person to complete
When Alyssa was 9 years old, she met all of NASA’s World Space Camps in
astronaut Sandra Magnus, who told Huntsville, AL; Laval, Canada; and the
Alyssa that she decided to become an Aegean Free Zone in Izmir, Turkey.
astronaut when she was 9 years old. Ikedtilhdrseiesnatnkmooistdt’tessochiiomaduleplldoowrwhbtaeas.ntotmthfeoeorirne Alyssa sits tionuarnoFf/AN‑A18SAcoAckr mpist tdrournign.g
"Because I was 9 at the time, it showed a special
me that you could start young and
succeed in your dreams," Alyssa says.
22 INSPIRE HEALTH November § December 2015
