Reaching for the Stars

1995 alumna Cindy Hasselbring has been dreaming of NASA since she visited Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a family vacation when she was a child.

A visit to Cedarville in the 80s deepened that passion for the stars when she purchased a poster of an astronaut on a spacewalk with the inspirational phrase, “And those who dare to dream, dare to do.”

Cindy is now living her dream. As a NASA NextGen STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) educational advocate, she connects NASA resources with educators. The NASA online platform for teachers that she is helping develop should be ready for the public in January 2022.

For a math teacher from Milan, Michigan, who applied five times to be part of NASA’s astronaut program, this current opportunity is a perfect blend of her skills and her dreams. The kind of opportunity that our Father in heaven graciously gives his children.

“I’ve been passionate my entire career about helping students see the opportunities and careers they could have in STEM,” Cindy shared with Cedarville public relations earlier this year. “I also love getting teachers resources from NASA directly into their hands.”

“I thought I’d planned out my career as a math teacher,” she added. “Public speaking, event planning, service, giving presentations — God built up those skills in my education at Cedarville. A well-rounded education is so important.”

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Before her current role with NASA, Cindy served as senior policy advisor and assistant director for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.