Leland Melvin is an engineer, educator, and a former NASA astronaut and NFL wide receiver. He served on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis as a mission specialist, helping to construct the International Space Station. He led NASA Education and co-chaired the White House's Federal Coordination in STEAM Education Task Force, developing the nation's five-year STEM education plan. After nearly 25 years of working with NASA, Melvin shares his life story with young people to help inspire them to pursue careers in STEAM. Here he reflects on his lifelong passion for learning, and his new middle grade graphic novel, Space Chasers, co-written with Joe Caramagna and illustrated by Alison Acton.
When I was a kid, my view of the world and what seemed possible was seen through the lens of my schoolteacher parents' eyes. Before the school year, I learned to be creative when I helped design and make their classroom bulletin boards with no compensation but a stark understanding that it was good for me. My mom and dad made sure my sister and I had experiential hands-on learning outside of school, which included sports, music, engineering, art, and science.
Among the many lessons I received from my dad, I learned the importance of visualizing a goal and resolutely pursuing it until I achieved it. For example, one scorching hot morning when I was about 11, he drove up to our house in a Merita bread truck and parked it in our driveway. He had worked extra jobs, but I had never seen him deliver bread. I knew he performed as a drummer in a band because I spent summers as his roadie, carrying his speakers around town even though I was too young to be in the clubs and watch the shows. The six-foot-tall Peavey speakers towered over my small middle-school frame.
A bread truck? I asked him what he planned to do with it. "It's going to be our camper," he said. But I couldn't see it. I argued with him, telling him it was nothing but a bread truck without the bread and it would be a terrible place to sleep. It was cavernous inside, with only one seat for the driver and stacks of metal racks in the back. It even smelled like freshly baked bread. But within a few weeks, I began to understand his vision and believe in its potential.
In our family, whatever projects my father undertook became my projects. Such was the case with the bread truck. We installed two bunks for my sister and me and a pull-out couch for my parents -- all bolted to the floor. A camping stove and table made up the kitchen. As campers go, it wasn't elegant, but it was functional and had everything we needed to go on our summer outings. Through the bread truck conversion and other projects, I learned that with imagination you could create something great. My father had a similar vision for our family that he orchestrated every day -- at home, at school, and throughout Lynchburg, Va. As a childhood friend recently told me, my parents weren't just committed to building their family -- they were building the whole community. I would often see my dad sitting with older boys, offering guidance or just listening. Everyone knew "Mr. Melvin," and everyone my dad spoke with felt respected.
From these childhood experiences I had the tools and belief in myself to become a chemist, engineer, NFL player, astronaut, and finally an educator running NASA's education programs. My mom and dad have passed the torch and expect me to carry on their legacy to motivate and inspire our next generation of explorers.
Co-writer Joe Caramagna and illustrator Alison Acton and I developed Tia Valor's story for the first book in our three-part series, and wrote Space Chasers so that all kids, even those without the same benefits that I had, could see how a vision for their life could materialize. Tia is a brilliant mechanic but is not much of a student because she skipped many of her classes due to a troubled home life. Tia's curiosity and problem solving, while also building confidence, respect, pride, and friendship is critical to the "STEAM TEAM" having success in space. These tools also allow for the next generation of explorers reading Space Chasers to be equipped to handle the myriad of problems we face on and off the planet.