December 2nd, 2014

You would have thought he was a rock star.  The gymnasium erupted when Astronaut Chris Hadfield came on the screen.  Children cheered when he said the simple words, “hello to BPS!”

His messages were clear and they were about far more than outer space. They were about working hard and being a good person.  He said that when you experience a sunset and sunrise every 45 minutes, “there is beauty everywhere.  The problems of the world look different from that perspective. The “them” and “us” fades away and it all becomes us. We are all part of the same world.”

Mr. Hadfield talked about the curiosity of learning.  He said that in space you don’t have spare time.  But you have the opportunity to be curious and to experiment all of the time.  Of particular delight, the children were interested in hearing that in low gravity you can do 1000 summersaults in a row or even learn that you can go to the bathroom upside down!

He went on to talk about the hard work in achieving any goal.  If you want to be an astronaut you need to be willing to work hard.  You need to be fit, show that you can learn complex things by doing a master level degree in university and that you can make good decisions in situations where the consequences are important.  Chris Hadfield was a very optimistic speaker that found a way to draw the children in!

We are very thankful to the Canadian Astronaut Society who facilitated this once in a lifetime opportunity.