>> Well, obviously, having a technical background is important.
If you want to work as a civil servant for the NASA Johnson Space Center,
or any other NASA center, for that matter, it's really important to have a degree
in either mathematics, one of the pure sciences like physics, chemistry, biology, microbiology,
or any of the engineering disciplines, mechanical engineering, civil engineering,
electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, those kinds of things.
I would take advantage of internship opportunities.
Both the federal government and the contractors, if you want to work in space,
have a lot of opportunities for internships, and getting the on-the-job experience,
learning how to apply the information that you've gained in your --
in your academic studies, and how to apply those in the workplace,
in the real world, is very, very important.
So if you can apply for internships in, perhaps, breaks between the years --
if you're going to Excelsior, you have the opportunity to have a full-time job
and still work, or still do your studies in the evening so you can apply for a job.
Getting a job with the federal government is kind
of difficult, so start with the contractors.
There are lots of companies that support NASA.
Apply with them, look for openings, and get that on-the-job experience,
and then when the opportunity comes up and they notice you and they say, "Hey,
we like this guy who works for XYZ Corporation, he would be great --
a great fit at NASA," then the door opens and you're able to --
to jump, strike when the iron's hot.