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My school, South Mountain Community College, has sent out a press release about my interview. When I was hired ten years ago I distinctly remember walking across campus and how I just knew this was the school for me. These past ten years have been wonderful. I can’t express how much I enjoy teaching my students, interacting with my colleagues, and being a part of the South Mountain community. I appreciate the support my school and administration have shown me during this process. Below is the press release: I want to clarify that you don’t need 20/20 vision to be an astronaut. Corrected vision with glasses or contacts is acceptable.

South Mountain Community College Geology Faculty Member Flying High Over Upcoming Interview for Astronaut Training Position

When Dr. Sian Proctor was a teenager, she found that her eyesight and the loss of her beloved father thwarted the 20/20 vision she had for life: to become an astronaut. So, who could have guessed that two decades later, this Geology Faculty member of South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, would be invited to interview for an astronaut position with NASA? “I am humbled by the opportunity to make it come true,” she says.

(Media-Newswire.com) – When Dr. Sian Proctor was a teenager, she found that her eyesight and the loss of her beloved father thwarted the 20/20 vision she had for life: to become an astronaut.

So, who could have guessed that two decades later, this Geology Faculty member of South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, would be invited to interview for an astronaut position with NASA? “I am humbled by the opportunity to make it come true,” she says.

NASA will interview her for three days in mid-January at the Johnson Space Center. Only 10 to 15 of the 120 final candidates will be selected for the two-year training period to become an astronaut. Approximately 4,000 persons applied for the 20th astronaut class and only 120 received invitations for an interview.

‘NO LONGER AN OPTION’

Sian, 38, was born on Guam where her father worked at the NASA tracking station during the Gemini and Apollo Missions. After Apollo 13, the family moved back to the states. At age 16, Sian’s then-poor vision required her to get glasses. Her father passed away a few years later, deepening Sian’s belief that she would never be able to fulfill her dream. “My life was all laid out, or so I thought,” she says.

“I wanted so much to follow in my father’s footsteps,” she recalls. “Growing up, I was good at math and science, I was in the Civil Air Patrol, and I wanted to go to the Air Force Academy. My ultimate goal was to fly F-16s and end my career as an astronaut exploring space. NASA had always been a part of my life.”

Then, says Sian, “I got glasses and my father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Those two events changed a lot for me. Flying for the military was no longer an option. Neither was NASA. Both required 20/20 vision.”

OUTSTANDING SCIENTIST

Disappointed but undaunted, Sian followed her next big love: science. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania. Then, she moved West to attend the Arizona State University Masters of Geology program and graduated in 1998.

“When I arrived at ASU’s department of geology in 1994 they handed me a lab book, a teaching schedule and said, ‘Go teach,’” she relates. “From the moment I stepped into the classroom I knew teaching was what I wanted to do.”

Sian, now of Phoenix, graduated with a Master of Science in Geology and immediately went into a Ph.D. program in Science Education at ASU.

“I was very fortunate that a year after receiving my masters I was hired full time at South Mountain Community College,” she recalls. In 1998, she was hired as the college’s first full-time geology faculty and was given the rare opportunity to develop the program herself. SMCC is at 7050 S. 24th St., just north of Baseline Rd, in Phoenix. It is one of the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges.

“South Mountain Community College is a minority-serving institution and a lot of the students are first generation college — just like me,” she says. “I am proud of that. I believe I am a good role model for my students. Persistence and hard work really do pay off.”

During the past 10 years, Sian has brought prominence to the SMCC geology program. Classes are in demand and fill up quickly, and students are known for their persistence – staying in and completing college.

“I believe that what I do as an educator makes a difference in the lives of my students. I enjoy being in the classroom, getting students excited about the world, and helping them to understand the role science plays in their lives,” she says. “It is extremely rewarding to run into students years after they have graduated and have them tell me that my class was the best they ever had, or to learn they are now teaching science or pursuing a graduate degree.”

Meanwhile, this would-be astronaut decided to earn an airplane pilot’s license when she completed her Ph.D. “Flying had always been a dream of mine and I was finally in a good position to make it happen. I found an instructor and within six months I was a licensed private pilot. Nothing builds your confidence like flying solo for the first time.”

COMING FULL CIRCLE

Better yet, earning her pilot’s license spurred Sian to have her eyes fixed. “I can honestly say it was well worth every penny. I knew that laser eye surgery could fix the problem but I was always spending my extra money traveling the world. I am pleased to say that I’ve had 20/20 vision for the last year and a half.”

After repairing her vision, it was time to reconsider an old dream.

At the beginning of 2008, she received an e-mail from a friend announcing the astronaut candidate program. “For the first time I fit all the requirements. I had my Ph.D., 20/20 vision, and, for the first time, NASA would be accepting my community college teaching as qualifying experience. ( In the past only K-12 was accepted for astronaut educators ),” she says.

“I instantly realized that my childhood dreams were all coming true. I had gone full circle. My desire to learn and to push myself has led me down a path to NASA and the legacy of my father. No matter what happens I know my father would be very proud of who I have become and what I have achieved,” she adds.

According to Sian, becoming a possible astronaut is “about commitment, sacrifice, exploration, and teamwork. It’s about striving to accomplish something bigger than any one individual or nation. It’s the most amazing career I could ever wish to be a part of and I am humbled by the opportunity to make it come true.”

The actual Press Release is here: http://media-newswire.com/release_1083338.html