We Are On Earth To Reach For The Stars

Karl Philander
It was all oohs and aahs as the Environmental Club from de Duine Secondary School and the grade 11 Geography class buckled up their seat belts to blast off into space with Mr Japie Van Zyl, the Director for Solar System Exploration at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The aim for this encounter was to open up the minds of the youth. Give them the bigger picture and reminding them that dreaming has no limits as Dr Jakob Van Zyl himself is a proud Namibian who is living proof that dreaming big is the first step to success.
With the assistance of Mrs Martella Diederiks, who made everything possible, the group had the opportunity to have an educational and inspirational skyping conference with Mr Jakob Van Zyl.
I’ve always wanted to become an astronaut ever since I read an article about Nasa’s curiosity rover mission on Mars –that was in August 2012. After reading it, I immediately fell in love. I did research on outer space and rockets and their odyssey to a distant world. My first option is to go study and follow my dreams at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. A world renowned university for its research projects and it’s also one of the leading universities in space exploration. I am encouraged and more inspired, because Mr Jakob Van Zyl reminded me that no dream is too big or impossible to achieve. He is one of my role models. Being a space-fanatic, I am always up-to-date with NASA’s latest developments. It was quite fun to learn more about thing you know little of. The highlight of the whole video conference was learning more about the space probe CASSINI and the grand finale of Space Probe Cassini. Watching the animation was emotional as I can relate to what the team of scientists and engineers who worked on the mission are feeling. Like Dr Van Zyl said, “We’d be losing a great friend and a great teacher.” “I would like to encourage Namibians out there who also aspire to become astronauts or want to follow in any other career to not give up on your dreams and dream big.” Medwin Swartbooi, a learner from De Duine
“I am an online counsellor and I’ve been helping DR Van Zyl to keep in touch with Namibians and inspire them. I didn’t choose NASA. NASA chose me. Mr Van Zyl, to be exact. I’ve known him since our school years in Outjo High School. He is a Namibian by heart. He was a kid with a dream. The most amazing part is that he is still the same person. Down to earth, warm-hearted and inspiring.
What impressed me the most was the behaviour of the group. Even though we had some minor technical difficulties, they were so patient. What else impressed me was the participation. The questions they’d asked Dr Van Zyl were out of this world” said Mrs Martella Diederiks.
One key to success starts with character. Your character is the pillar, it keeps away all negative thoughts and impacts that might knock you down. Knowing who you are is already a success. Never stop dreaming. Take the hero’s journey and find the gold within yourself. You are born to stand out and not to fit in.
Without the input from everyone, especially the effort put in by Dr Van Zyl and the American Embassy to arrange this session, this would not have been possible. We would not have been able to be intellectually fed. A big thank you to each and every one who had helped to make this possible.