The Lifelong Impact of Mentorship for STEM Students - Joe Tanner and Curtis Althaus, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation

The right mentor can totally change the college and career trajectory of a student. Today, we're exploring the power of mentorships through the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Join former NASA astronaut Joe Tanner and current Astronaut Scholar Curtis Althaus as they dive into the powerful, and often overlooked, role mentorship plays in building tomorrow’s innovators.

Through their personal stories, you’ll hear how mentorship goes beyond simply offering advice. It’s about offering guidance in those pivotal moments—helping mentees navigate tough decisions, inspiring them to chase big dreams, and providing the type of insight that only years of experience can offer. Whether it’s choosing between two internships or deciding which research path to pursue, mentorship gives students the clarity and confidence they need to thrive.

The conversation also sheds light on why the mentorship experience is a two-way street. For Joe, it’s not just about imparting wisdom; it’s about building meaningful relationships that continue to shape both mentors and mentees long after the formal program ends. And for Curtis, being part of ASF isn’t just about the scholarship—it’s about becoming part of a dynamic community that challenges him to push boundaries and think bigger.

Listen to learn:

• Why mentorship in STEM isn’t just about academic guidance
• The unexpected ways mentorship creates clarity, confidence, and lifelong connections for both mentors and mentees
• How ASF’s mentorship program builds a community where learning, collaboration, and innovation go hand in hand
• What it means to be a part of a “family” of scholars who not only receive support but give it back as they grow
• The actionable insights Joe and Curtis share about navigating career decisions, embracing failure, and seizing unexpected opportunities

3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:

1. Mentorship in STEM goes far beyond academics. Joe and Curtis share how their mentor/mentee relationship is far less about Joe advising Curtis on his academic journey, and far more about sharing a lifetime of wisdom to help Curtis with all aspects of life. It's a great reminder that you don't need to be an expert in the same field as a student to become their mentor.
2. Programs like ASF offer a lifelong community which can have long-reaching impact for students. Curtis shares how his ASF experience has evolved from academic support to a true "family" environment, where the community of scholars connects, learns from each other, and shares the same passions and big ideas. Getting involved in a community of peers - those with similar ideals and those with differing viewpoints - can have a huge impact on a student's life.
3. Brilliant people can come from anywhere. Credit to Curtis for this brilliant observation, but through his time at ASF he's met bright individuals from every background imaginable. Being open to new people and new experiences can create a much more wholistic life experience for young students.

Resources in this Episode:

Learn more about the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, visit: www.astronautscholarship.org

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Transcript

Matt Kirchner: 0:00

Matt, welcome into The TechEd Podcast. It is Matt Kirchner, your host. Where would we be without mentors? I've had so many people in my life, whether it's in my personal life, in my professional life, really, over the course of my entire life, that showed me how to do things I didn't know I was capable of doing. Maybe even had the guts to tell me when I was doing it all wrong. Having people in your life that are able to do that for you so very important. It's so very important now, as I get deeper into my career, to try to do the same thing for people that are on the pathway that I was on years ago, mentorship is so very important. We're going to talk a ton about mentorship in this episode of The TechEd Podcast. And what's more, we are doing it with people that have worked in and around, believe it or not, NASA, so we've got a former astronaut and the individual that he is mentoring along with us for this episode of The TechEd Podcast. So let me first begin just by welcoming in these two phenomenal guests. The first one, his name is Joe Tanner, and Joe is a former astronaut and a mentor for the astronaut Scholarship Foundation, commonly called ASF. And he is joined by Curtis Althaus, who is an astronaut scholar and a University of Illinois student. We're going to have a wonderful conversation. I just am so fascinated by the relationship that the two of you have, that the work that the ASF is doing, this importance of mentorship. So let's get into that, Joe, I want to start with you. ASF has just a really, really interesting story. You're a former NASA astronaut. Tell us about ASF and tell us what your mission is all about.

Joe Tanner: 1:44

Certainly, ASF was founded in 1984 by the original seven astronauts, and they were long past their flight period in the 60s and early 70s, but they decided that they needed to start something in a foundation to help promote what we call now STEM education, science, technology, engineering and math, and so they established the foundation to provide scholarships for promising students at the university level. Those eligible, they apply either in their sophomore year or their junior year for either one or two years of scholarship. Curtis is one of the few that actually were sharp enough. That's how sharp he really is. Was selected as a junior, and we became mentor and mentee in his junior year, and carried that into his senior year, which he should finish at the end of the semester. Awesome. Well, the scholarship was expanded as the years went on, not only with membership from the original seven astronauts, but anyone who's been in the astronaut program for all the programs, from Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo, Soyuz, then shuttle and now ISS, can be a part of the organization and participating in the mission of promoting STEM education and helping the best and the brightest to quote a movie line, the best of the best of the best in STEM education. So starts

Matt Kirchner: 3:08

with seven astronauts. Do you know how many an hour involved in this day and age? Of

Joe Tanner: 3:12

course, all the original seven have passed away, and there are a number of astronauts that participate in ASF in various capacities, some as mentors like me, and some on the selection committee, and others in the leadership roles and participate in the galas and the innovation conference gala and week that we're going to talk about here in a little bit

Matt Kirchner: 3:35

absolutely fascinating. Joe, so tell us a little bit about the impact that ASF has had on the students since this founding all the way back in 1984 in

Joe Tanner: 3:44

total, over the years of the foundation, we have given out 855 scholars, scholarships to scholars totaling over $9 million it's not trivial. The one word that probably sticks out from the scholars themselves, who took a survey last year, and the one word is confidence that they got from the ASF program. There's validation, I guess you would say, of the fact that they are working hard in school and they're doing well, and here somebody has recognized that fact and made them astronaut scholars. The other words that I have from this survey actually come from the innovators conference, and this is where I'd like Curtis to tell us a little bit about the innovators conference.

Matt Kirchner: 4:28

You've got confidence in there. We've got validation. Tell us a little bit more, Curtis, about the impact that you think that the ASF program has had.

Curtis Althaus: 4:36

It's really hard to quantify, like Joe said, because so much of the benefit is incremental. It's not like you get the scholarship and then immediately your life changes. There's the mentorship aspect, there's the networking aspect, there's the family aspect of the scholarship, and all three of those things, all of the things that you get can make little impacts on your career. But Joe meant. Innovators. And this is an event that happens. All astronaut scholars are invited to it. It's a week long, get together, retreat, conference, all of those things packed into one. So

Matt Kirchner: 5:13

tell me you mentioned the word family. The other things you talked about the impacts, I suppose you might expect, but you said the family impact as well. Go a little deeper on that.

Curtis Althaus: 5:21

When I first got the astronaut scholarship in 2023 I was pretty nervous, because you see the list of other scholars, and they're coming from all around the United States. They're from all different areas in STEM and really you don't know what to expect. But pretty quickly, even in the first few hours, sitting in a room with my class of scholars, you realize pretty quickly that everybody is welcoming and like minded in the sense that everybody cares about the world, they care about each other, they care about making a difference, and they're all Using their experiences to drive some particular point of innovation, and so being a part of that family, being a part of a group like that, it has a resonant impact on me as a scholar. It helps me pursue those same things and make differences in my own area of research and my area of study. But also it's a group of people that everyone cares and that is a fantastic group to be a part of for that exact reason,

Matt Kirchner: 6:26

no question. So you're like minded. Everyone cares, and I'm guessing, and Joe already kind of alluded to this. Everyone's really, really smart too, right? So Curtis, you probably maybe you're too modest to admit that, but I gotta believe you're a really, really sharp, smart individual as well to be selected for this program, but certainly smarts and intelligence that you know that's important, what do you think they saw in you specifically that that led you to this amazing opportunity? One

Curtis Althaus: 6:53

of the things that I think really well describes astronaut scholars is they're multi dimensional. They're not just good at school. They also do very interesting things outside of school. And in my case, I'm a dancer. I do Latin dance, I perform, teach travel, you name it. I do that. In addition to a lot of random things that I do. My game of two truths and a lie is very difficult. I'll just say that, yeah, for sure. Well,

Matt Kirchner: 7:21

and I would tell you, I think we've had a lot of firsts on The TechEd Podcast in our 200 plus episodes. You I think, are the first Latin dancer that we've had on the podcast, or at least the one that's brought up the topic, how did you get into that?

Curtis Althaus: 7:32

I should preface by saying, before college, I never danced in my life. I mean, sometimes dance floor at a high school dance, sometimes you'll see me breaking a move, but some

Matt Kirchner: 7:43

will say that I've never danced in my life either, although I've tried many times, right?

Curtis Althaus: 7:48

Yeah. So we have an event at the U of I called Quad Day, and this is the Las Vegas strip of U of I registered student organizations. Everybody has their posters up and candy, and they're trying to get you to sign up for their club. And it just so happened that my freshman year, I was at Quad Day, and I walked past this booth of these dancers and these black outfits with these red flowers, and I just thought it was the coolest thing, coolest outfit. It'd be cool to dance in something like that, but it's a long shot, right? So I go to the audition. I think I flood the audition, but long story short, I somehow make it onto the team, and then a year later, I was elected the artistic director of the team. I'd done music for most of my life, but I then went on to teach and travel and dance all across the United States after that fascinating

Matt Kirchner: 8:40

story and a real good lesson, I think, especially to our students that maybe get pretty caught up in academics, and it's easy to do that, that it really is, in a lot of cases, that well rounded student and that person that has a great academic story, but also has a great story outside of academia and their coursework that really attracts whether it's an employer or, in this case, The ASF, to that particular individual, and then mentors them along this incredible journey. So here we've got Curtis, who was both a 2023 and 2024 astronaut scholar, going back before that, all the way back to 2016 Joe, the formal mentorship program launched as part of ASF, and you've been a mentor ever since that very first year, so So nine years since that launch. So tell us about your experience as an astronaut, and specifically how and as a pilot, for that matter, how those experiences shaped your approach to how you mentor someone like Curtis.

Joe Tanner: 9:32

The decision I made to go into the Navy and become a Navy pilot enabled me to get a job with NASA, also as a pilot for eight years before I finally got selected in the astronaut office, I would not have been selected if I hadn't done both those two things. I'm sure of it. And so those two experiences critically formed my ability to help someone like Curtis, who would like to follow a similar path he's pursuing more of the academic qualifications become an astronaut. He's going to get a PA. HD and maybe work in the industry a little bit, and I trust that he and I will still be communicating at that at that time, the mentorship period is for one year, but I find it so rewarding and so much fun really getting to know these incredible scholars and developing a relationship with them that I keep in contact with probably half of the nine mentees that I've had over the years, and

Matt Kirchner: 10:23

that was gonna be my question. So you build these relationships, then a lot of these folks you end up staying in touch with over time, that's it's gotta be interesting. Is there one in particular that you would look to that's really accomplished, some things that might be notable or done, some interesting things that might be notable the audience? Yeah,

Joe Tanner: 10:37

well, most of them are still in their PhD paths right now. And for instance, I think it was three scholars ago that, and she's going to Vanderbilt medical school. And my wife and I were passing through Nashville, and so we just stopped by and had lunch with her. It's a beautiful campus too, by the way, I've been there. We were off campus, went to Chick fil A as my effect. But okay, and the big football game between Texas, Andy was going on that afternoon, so she had to leave and go to the game, but she's doing great having a good time, and I'm going to keep track of you, so don't change your telephone number. There

Matt Kirchner: 11:12

you go. That's got to be so rewarding as a mentor to look back several years later and yeah, see them on that path. So certainly credit to you for staying in touch with those people and and also for just being engaged as you are as a mentor. It's really, really important, as I mentioned in the intro, to have people that we can look up to. Curtis, clearly, Joe is somebody that you look up to with a tremendous amount of gratitude and admiration. You know, as you're continuing along this path in your academic journey, I guess Joe had mentioned that you're pursuing the PhD route right now. You're studying chemistry and astrophysics at the University of Illinois, so work in you know, both the aspirations toward the the PhD work, but also talk about what first drew you to these particular fields, and how being part of ASF has influenced that particular path in your goals as a student, individual in academia. Yeah,

Curtis Althaus: 11:59

so I'm a chemistry and astrophysics double major, and I started off as a chemistry major, and I was a Lego kid growing up, so I played with Legos from dawn till dusk. And in many ways, chemistry is similar to Legos, in that you're assembling atoms to build molecules that do all sorts of amazing things. But I had a really great high school chemistry teacher who gave me the freedom to do some experimentation in high school, which eventually led me to joining an electrochemistry lab where I continue to work today, working on energy storage research. The astrophysics part was just an interest of mine. I really like space. It's another thing that Joe and I share. It was a love for space, but this space is the place where you see the coolest physics, black holes, supernovas, novas, and I just wanted to learn more about that, so, just

Matt Kirchner: 12:51

so I understand this correctly. So you're like, going through organic chemistry, and you're like, I think in my spare time, I'll just pursue a degree in astrophysics. Is that kind of how this came about. Yeah,

Curtis Althaus: 13:01

that's about it. All the different areas are not as distinctive as you might think. They all use a lot of the same principles, but I've always loved learning new things, and this kind of feeds my passion for that absolutely.

Matt Kirchner: 13:15

So connect that to ASF and kind of what you're learning in the current work you're doing, and how that's influencing your coursework and your experience as you go through the university. Yeah, as Joe mentioned

Curtis Althaus: 13:25

in the future, if I was given the opportunity to fly to Mars or fly to the moon, I would take it in a heartbeat. But I think so much of mentorship goes past just by professional aspirations, every student, every person who's faced a transition in their life has to make some big decisions, whether it be choosing between an internship or choosing between grad schools or undergrad and those sorts of things are the exact things that mentors are set up to help me with, and Joe has been very instrumental in my decision making, both for grad school and for, like I said, internships. We've got a great story about that, but I won't steal his thunder. Well, if we don't get to that story, we're gonna come back to it, but keep rolling. Yeah, it just mentorship. Goes beyond my chemistry and my astrophysics degree and the energy storage research I do in the future. It's just so much bigger than that. And that's, I think, what the value well, both because Joe is an astronaut and I would like to be an astronaut one day, but also just Joe has lived a lot more life than I have, and there are a lot of lessons that he has learned that I am learning now. And that's, I think where I get a lot, how

Matt Kirchner: 14:42

incredibly gratifying Joe, it must be to hear someone talk about your mentorship and the influence that you're having on them in real time, in the way that Curtis has, and clearly you've built up a tremendous relationship together. And I know that it's a lot of commitment both sides, and building that trust and getting to a place where you're clearly having. A huge, huge influence. Let's talk a little bit about that mentorship. Joe, now you've been doing this a while. We suggested 2016 is when you started with the ASF program. But no doubt you've been mentoring folks for a long, long time. So what motivates you to keep doing this? You know, is it the kind of things we just heard from Curtis? Are there other things that motivate you? And how should other individuals who are maybe thinking about taking on a more formal mentorship role. Be thinking about that, and what advice would you have for

Joe Tanner: 15:25

them? Well, like Curtis mentioned, it's really about relationship, and ASF in general, is about family. They they talk about family all the time, and we are one big family, and I'm just happy to be a part of it, and I'm going to keep doing the mentoring, because I really enjoy it. I mean, who wouldn't want to get to know a person like Curtis? And we've actually met in person three times, some of my other mentees. It was all on Zoom or meetings or something like that, but we've been together. He's he's visited my house here with his father and spent the night and been to my house in Danville. I was University of Illinois grad, also from Danville, and he came over and we tromped around in the woods, and he mentioned, I've lived more years than him. I think this was menace, a compliment. We were going up and down the hills in the woods. And he says, you know, you're doing pretty good for an old guy.

Unknown: 16:14

Absolutely, that's terrific.

Joe Tanner: 16:16

The key about mentoring and Curtis alluded to it is that I don't need to be an expert in astrophysics or chemistry. I know a little bit about both, but not enough to advise a person who's eventually going to be a PhD candidate. But the real key is to care, to care about what they're doing, and to listen, and more than you talk, ask questions, don't make decisions for the mentee, although I think he wanted me to tell that one story about the coin. He was having a tough time figuring out what to do for summer or something. I can't remember what the topic was now. Curtis, what was it? Yeah, it

Curtis Althaus: 16:49

was choosing between two internships, a NASA internship and a Lawrence Livermore internship. That's

Joe Tanner: 16:55

right, he had a NASA internship and a Livermore and I said, Well, flip a coin. And he saw, no, we're not gonna flip a coin. That's so no, no, no, no. Flip the coin, and if you don't like the way it turned out and you want to flip it again, that's

Unknown: 17:08

your answer. There you go. That's awesome. I love that you don't

Joe Tanner: 17:12

need to have a PhD in astrophysics to help them make that decision. It's just about caring and relationship and frankly, just being a friend and Curtis and I for our good friends, yeah, that's

Matt Kirchner: 17:25

clear. You can tell, you can tell that mutual admiration just in spending this short period of time we've had together. And I, you know, I really love the fact that you talk about Joe. I think a lot of times when people think about being a mentor, it's like imparting all this great, grand wisdom to another individual and and so much of whether it's leadership, mentorship, even selling, if you will, or sharing ideas with other people and trying to bring them over to your side. When we start with caring and we start with listening, it's amazing how much further along we get. And so that advice, I think, for anybody who's going to be a mentor, it's not about necessarily what you know. It's about how you can help. And you don't know how you can help until you listen and kind of really understand where somebody is, and it's clear that that's the approach that the two of you have had to this relationship. Curtis, it's got to be so rewarding to hear Joe talk about you in those in those kind terms, but also just to think back on the idea of life decisions, flipping a coin, what could have been, or what might have been you making this decision to pursue ASF and ultimately being able to participate. Was there a moment along the way, since you started this journey, this ASF journey, that you would point to, that you're like, wow, this really codifies everything, all the great things about what it means to me to be part of ASF and this experience that you're going

Curtis Althaus: 18:41

through, yeah, I think there are two points. The first was the first innovators gala that I went to, just being able to meet all of the different ASF scholars and all of the different ASF affiliates, and really realizing how much of a family, and I think a family is the best descriptor of what ASF is, how much of a family ASF actually was, and to feel a part of that family was a really, really unique and amazing experience. The other one was going to visit Joe out in Danville, Illinois. This was one of the first times we met, the first time we met in person. But just who else can say they did yard chores with an astronaut or a former astronaut? Right? Yeah, that's awesome for me. Like, I'm grateful to have Joe as a mentor, and you know, he inspires me to be a mentor to people below me, and to hopefully be an ASF mentor one day. But I think those two points best describe that.

Matt Kirchner: 19:40

That's fantastic. So the this whole idea of family, we've talked about that a bit, and you've talked about all the support and the non competitive atmosphere, and more just the the caring that you're receiving from other people participating on this journey. And I can honestly say I've never done chores with an astronaut, so I don't know who can say that, but I can say that that I haven't so to have that, that experience together. Are really, really important and and you talk about this family, and this isn't just a family, Joe, right? That is like a two year experience. And then we're off to the next thing. One of the really interesting aspects of ASF is that once you're a scholar, you're a lifelong member of this organization. So let's start with you, Joe, and just talk about what happens after this education process. You touched a little bit, Joe on staying in touch with some of the folks you've mentored in the past. How do you see this moving forward with Curtis? Kind of post education or post, you know, undergraduate degree time and so on.

Joe Tanner: 20:32

It's up to Curtis or what he wants to do. There is no requirement, there's no payback on the on the scholarship. But most scholars want to be a part of ASF in some way that they are able. And like Curtis said that, I think you'd be a great mentor, and when it's time. And I'm sure, first of all, he is very popular with the staff at ASF. They love Curtis, so when he has had enough experience and he's got time to do it, I'm sure that he will be welcomed with open arms as a mentor anything else he wants to do when the scholars come back to ASF, I think it adds strength to the whole program. It's just good for everybody and good for the scholars. Gives them another purpose other than their research or business or family, whatever they do on something, it's just a great opportunity for them, and, of course, for the farmers and the staff that are working so hard anyway, absolutely, our reward comes daily. Almost

Matt Kirchner: 21:28

no question. So what is it that the staff loves so much about you? Curtis, what are you doing right in that regard? And then talk a little bit about how you see, you know, you talked about wanting to be a mentor at some point, but how do you see this relationship with ASF evolving as your career heads forward? Yeah, I don't

Curtis Althaus: 21:42

know. We've talked about if they need dance lessons at the next ASF event on call for that you're the guy, huh? Awesome. But I don't know, my journey in ASF has already started to move past just the formal events that they set up. I went on a trip with a few of my ASF classmates to New Orleans a few months ago. We're planning a backpacking trip in Montana. I've made a point to meet ASF scholars at most of the places I travel to, and just right off the bat, from when you meet somebody you haven't seen in two years, you just hit it off, and immediately it is really a family. That's the best way I can describe it. But I don't know, I have received so much from ASF, and it only feels right for me to give back in the future and to give to the next generation of scholars and continue feeding this family that we've developed, feeding this

Matt Kirchner: 22:36

family and giving back Joe. I've got, I've got to believe, in fact, I already know that that's incredibly important to you. We've got individuals from not just astronauts, but also professionals Joe that come from all kinds of STEM fields that get involved with the ASF as mentors. So what would you say to professionals in other STEM fields that might be considering becoming a mentor? What advice would you have had for them if they're unsure about how they can contribute to a program like ASF, or what do mentors bring beyond just that academic support if

Joe Tanner: 23:07

you have a passion for helping other people, I think mentoring is one of the most noblest methods to help another human being along the path that maybe you've already traveled. But even if you haven't followed that exact path, you have, like Curtis said earlier, you gain wisdom and life, and you can pass that on to someone who's at a stage that you remember being at that stage. And there's lots of times, and I wish I had a good mentor in my life, of course, my parents and everything. But sometimes it's great to get an independent view, and you don't necessarily need to be an expert in the field of the person you are mentoring, you have the life experiences, and those are of value,

Matt Kirchner: 23:46

absolutely. So those life experiences, those valuable experiences that you bring to mentees like Curtis and Curtis, I know ASF has helped build a strong community, right? We've talked about that, we've talked about the family, we've talked about all the people that have been scholars, have been on on this journey, and it's an opportunity for them to network. It's certainly an opportunity for them to continue their learning. And we've talked about the one on one mentorship, the time you spent with Joe, either being mentored by him, learning from his wisdom, spending time in his home, doing chores with him in Danville and so on. You know, in addition to all that mentoring and some of these other experiences that you had through ASF. Is there anything else that you would point to where you're like, Wow, this is a really, really good reason to be part of ASF. I want

Curtis Althaus: 24:28

to answer that by expanding the definition of mentorship to not just a formal mentorship relationship that Joe and I have, but just the sharing of experiences and sharing of ideas and life lessons, and that is something that happens at every single ASF event. Every single person I've ever met has shared with me something that I've never known before, whether it be research related, whether it be life related. I've met generals. I've met current astronauts. I've met people who've worked in Antarctica. Jessica, I've met researchers who work on cancer detection, students from other schools who do even more interesting stuff than I could ever come up with in my wildest dreams. So the formal mentorship relationship is a focal point of one of the things I've received. But even more than that, just the relationships that I've had the opportunity to build with different people has been more fruitful than I ever could have imagined. And that's what I think makes me want to come back for more every time.

Matt Kirchner: 25:29

And it sounds like, I mean, you talk about people, you know, doing incredible research, you know, working on solutions for cancer, people that are, you know, working in Antarctica. I mean, is that kind of your I don't want to say typical. But I mean, when you get together with these folks, Curtis, is it people doing really kind of, you know, beyond the average types of work and engaging in beyond the average types of experiences, is that kind of the fabric of the community when you're together?

Curtis Althaus: 25:55

Absolutely, I think the thing that brings people into the fold of ASF, the ASF scholars, I should say, is research. Almost all of them do really, really interesting research. And I should add, sometimes the research comes along with being, say, a singer, a musician or a champion power lifter or an ultra marathon runner. Oftentimes it is multiple things that these people excel at and so, yeah, I would definitely characterize our community, at least the scholar community, as being people who just care about the world and who are doing amazing things to change it. You know,

Matt Kirchner: 26:33

we had a guest on the podcast not too long ago in the form of John Murphy, I think he was just last week. And John is Senior Vice President with the US Chamber of Commerce, and talked about, you know, when we talk at the end of this podcast about advice that people would offer to others, and we'll get to that with the two of you in a few moments as well. One of the things that John talked about was just seeking out people who are different from you and seeking out people who are he's, he used the term weird, but he's kind of says, you know, find weird people, right? And that and not as a pejorative at all, but just people that are eccentric, people that are doing really fascinating things. And it sounds like that's the kind of community in a lot of ways that you found with ASF, which makes it super, super fascinating. Joe, I want to talk. We've got a couple questions left here for both you and for Curtis, the questions we love posing to our guests here on the podcast. And as much as we have a lot of educators that listen to this podcast, we have a lot of students, in fact, that listen to this podcast, we always like to ask a couple questions about education. Everybody had their own education journey. You no doubt had your own unique journey. So as you look back on education or think about education today, is there an opinion or a belief that you have about education that might be a little bit different than everybody else's.

Joe Tanner: 27:43

So I was a degreed mechanical engineer. I went from that degree, took a four month trip to Europe, and then I joined the Navy. Was in the Navy for six years, and I was kind of a ski bum, or didn't use my engineering degree for four years. Then I came to NASA as a pilot for eight years, and then that 16 years as an astronaut, and then I finally used my engineering degree while I went to the University of Colorado as an instructor, a teaching professor. But every day of my life I have used what I learned in engineering basically a way to think and the way to solve problems. And that's basically what the real value of my engineering degree was, is it taught me how to think and how to solve.

Matt Kirchner: 28:24

I love that taught you how to think. I mean, you think about anybody's journey, you know, it's secondary education, but especially post secondary education, learning how to think, learning how to solve problems. Super, super important. And there's no doubt that somebody in a STEM field, somebody with an engineering degree, that's what you're doing, right? We're solving problems, and so being able to use that day in and day out, you're also probably the first person I've ever met, and I'm almost for sure, who graduated from ski bum to Navy pilot. That's impressive as well. So awesome that you're able to sort that one out.

Joe Tanner: 28:55

Actually, I did the Navy pilot first, and then I was a ski bum. Got it. Okay? Then you went to NASA. I tried to get a job at Copper Mountain ski resort, and I figured, since I was a heavy equipment operator, ie flying a multi ton airplanes off an aircraft carrier, that I should probably be qualified to drive a snow cat and grim them slopes. They didn't agree, really. They didn't agree at all.

Matt Kirchner: 29:17

Yeah, as our producer, Melissa, knows I'm a skier, I spend a good probably five or six weeks every the first quarter of every year on a mountain, skiing, or at least skiing part of the day. So I have great admiration, by the way, for what it's worth for for snow cat drivers. And that's no that's no easy task. But yeah, you would think, if you can fly a plane, you should be able to figure out how to how to operate a snow cat. But that's that's not my job. Just to sort out. Curtis, same question for you. You're a little bit earlier, a little bit newer in your education, career and path than maybe Joe and I are, but what you know as you're kind of moving through it, what's a attitude or a belief or a paradigm that you have about education that might surprise some folks?

Curtis Althaus: 29:54

My answer to this question also stems from my experience. There are a lot of things stem from my experience. It is. Stuff, but we have scholars from all over the United States, from schools, from HBCUs, from colleges, covering blanketing the country. And in meeting the scholars from all these places, it's made me realize one thing, and that one thing is that brilliant people can come from anywhere. I really, truly believe that brilliant people can come from all walks of life and from all schools. And I'm always very careful to judge until I meet people after having met so many people from so many different places, that's

Matt Kirchner: 30:35

awesome. Speaking of great messages, Curtis and we'll talk to you first and then ask this final question of Joe as well. A lot of the guests we have on the podcast, we asked them to go way, way, way back in time to when they were a 15 year old sophomore in high school. In your case, maybe you don't have to turn the clock back quite as far as some of us. But if you could go back to that point in time in your life, what advice would you give yourself as a 15 year old,

Curtis Althaus: 30:58

going back to my 15 year old self, I could not guess the path that I took to get to where I am today. I could probably guess roughly where I would be going, what direction I would be going, but realistically, like where I am today was a culmination of random chance and weird experiences that were either positively or negatively impacting my trajectory. And I think if I had to give advice to my 15 year old self, it would be, do everything that you can to prepare you for what you want to do in the future. But don't dissuade yourself from doing that one weird thing that other people tell you, like, Oh, don't do Latin dancing. Don't learn how to play the cooling guys don't don't do those things. No, I think all of those things contributed to who I am today, and I'm not afraid to veer off into wild directions. Now, that's perfect,

Matt Kirchner: 31:50

yeah, so, you know, stay the course, and know what course you're on, and work hard at it, but don't be afraid to go off on a couple of tangents. And that's really that creativity and that serendipity certainly is what, what life is all about in so many ways, so great, great advice for a 15 year old. Joe Tanner, same question to you. Maybe you got to turn the clock back a couple years earlier than than Curtis had to to when you were at 15 year old sophomore in high school. This whole career, Navy pilot, NASA pilot, astronaut, ski bum, all of that in front of you, but you maybe don't know exactly how that is going to work itself out. You go back to that 15 year old Joe Tanner. What advice do you give him?

Joe Tanner: 32:28

Well, first of all, man, I don't want to go back to the 15 year old version of me. That was hard enough the first time. No, I would say to myself, whatever you do, do it with your whole heart and your whole effort. No halfways, no shortcuts, no laziness. I didn't learn that lesson until I got into the Navy, and they helped teach me that there's one good thing about the military. But I realized then that if I want something bad enough I wanted to fly jet airplanes off carriers, I wanted that bad enough that you better go all in on everything that you do. The other thing I would want to say is I got permission to share a quote from a high school student, as a high school graduating senior at an awards bank in Florida that I was the keynote for, and afterwards, I asked him he was the primary winner of a national award. I mean, this is top shelf kind of guys, but I asked him, Patrick, what do you really want to do in life? And he looked right at me, and he says, You know, I don't know, but I'm doing everything I can to prepare myself to do it. And I told him I thought that was most brilliant answer I'd ever heard, yeah, from a high school student, too. Can I use it? And he said, Absolutely, so I did. I love that. Yeah,

Matt Kirchner: 33:42

that's really, really good advice. All that certainly giving everything, giving something, everything you've got. There are no shortcuts, there's no halfway points. There's certainly no laziness along that route. Give it everything you have, whatever you're up to, and then you know, not knowing for sure what the future is going to be, but preparing yourself for that future. Great advice from a high school student himself to Joe Tanner, and advice that he would give himself as a 15 year old. Very proposed answer to that. So I'm so glad that, first of all, the two of you are giving that 100% going all in on this relationship, this mentor, mentee relationship, working so hard at crafting Curtis future, and in the process creating this incredibly rewarding opportunity for Joe, you've created an incredibly rewarding opportunity for me to learn all about the astronaut scholarship foundation here on this episode of The TechEd Podcast. And just can't thank you, Joe, both to you. Joe Tanner, the former astronaut and ASF mentor and Curtis ALD house, astronaut, scholar and University of Illinois student. To both of you, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you. Thank you, man, what a great conversation we had with both Joe and Curtis today on The TechEd Podcast, we talked about the show notes, and you will find those at TechEd podcast.com/a A S, F, TechEd podcast.com/asf. Check out those show notes. Check us out on social media. We're on LinkedIn. We are on Instagram. We are on Tick, tock, anywhere you go for your social media, Facebook as well. You will find The TechEd Podcast when you do reach out and say hello and don't forget to join us again next week on The TechEd Podcast. Until then, my name is Matt Kirchner, thanks for being with us. You.