I am fortunate to have met Dr. Dave at a STAO conference in Toronto.  Having achieved so much, I found him quite humble.  He was presenting one of the 4 books he wrote for children.  He’s an accomplished astronaut, ER doctor, Director of a hospital. He also performed surgical operations in zero gravity.  I remember him saying that he was not well known, unlike Chris Hadfield, because there was no Twitter at the time he went to space.  He is currently 68 years old, and still active as an author and public speaker.  This is just amazing.

The title of this blog is a quote I just read from a book by Dr. Dave Williams.  He wrote several books but one I recommend for children is Go for Liftoff!

https://boutique.ingeniumcanada.org/fc/book-go-for-liftoff-hardcover.html

He describes based on his own experience as an astronaut what we need to become an astronaut.  This includes curiosity, confidence, physical fitness, passion, resilience and commitment.  Basically, you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it.  Your mindset is incredibly important for leaders and future leaders.

For astronauts, exercise is also crucial.  When he went to space, he used the exercise bike to cycle around the Earth  in the 90 minutes it took for the spacecraft to orbit the planet.  He also mentions NASA’s John Glenn who flew his second spaceflight at 77!!  What was his secret???  Well, … , he stayed in a top-top shape.

Our students need to see what is possible in order to question it, learn from it, and develop something better.

Not all students will become astronauts or will work to bring an astronaut to space but we can still learn from this experience.  Everyone on Earth needs to see a doctor, take care of their health and would like to live a fulfilling and healthy life.  After the pandemic, we need to rethink our health care system.  Can secrets revealed in this book serve as an inspiration to build a health care system for the next generation?