MCC Student Collaborates with MIT, Dreams of Working for NASA

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut,” said Christian North of Arlington. “I had just turned seven and I saw the launch of the Colombia in 1991.” North’s dreams changed as he grew up, and although he had a passion for aerospace, he thought that his wish to work for NASA one day was out of reach.

After moving to the United States from Chile, South America, he started at Middlesex Community College. When he shared his dream – and reasons for not pursuing the field – to Middlesex Engineering Professor Michele Stein, she asked him, “why don’t you go for it?”

Stein’s encouragement helped North realize that there were options available to him at the college and beyond to help him get into a future career related to aerospace. He decided, “I’m going to go for the dream for the little kid. Not to be an astronaut, but I want to be an engineer and maybe work at NASA someday.”

North is now on his path to his new field studying Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics at Middlesex. Because of Professor’s Stein’s initial support to pursue aerospace engineering, North wanted to work on more projects related to the field. The result was a model aviation club he formed at Middlesex. He reached out to MCC staff members Jonathan Crockett and Kirsten Morrow who not only supported his idea, but helped him get the club up and running.

North started preparing the curriculum and gathering interested classmates to jumpstart the club that would go on to win the best club award in Spring 2021. Because of the pandemic, it started out online as a discord channel with members talking and sharing ideas. In December 2021, the group began meeting in person to build an actual airplane.

Networking and reaching out to organizations for assistance led to a connection with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Aerospace (AIAA) of New England where he was invited to attend monthly council meetings. The organization is interested in providing funding for materials for the club. Through his involvement, North has also had the opportunity to meet people from NASA.

Much of the curriculum he follows in the model aviation club is what North uses in his new role for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). When MIT first invited him to meet with them, he assumed they wanted him to work as a Teaching Assistant for their summer programs. Instead, they asked him to lead a course called Assign, Build, Fly for ninth and tenth grade girls from under-resourced and low-income communities.

“They gave me the money, the tools, and they asked me to create my own program,” North said. “I designed a kit, a box with all the materials they’d need, and I sent it to the students. Everything I did with them, I started doing with the club at Middlesex.”

North is proud to be able to teach the class and work with students because he understands firsthand the ways in which being given support and opportunities can advance a person’s future.

When first coming to Middlesex, he was an international student on a working visa. In order to afford classes, he took advantage of tuition reimbursement from his company, participated in MCC’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Starter Academy, and supplemented the rest of his tuition with scholarships, including the Alumni Association Scholarship he was awarded in Fall 2021.

Also in the Fall of 2021, North received his green card, which allowed him to pay the local price of admission at the college. Many of these experiences and opportunities he has earned, he credits to his time at Middlesex.

“There’s a bunch of stuff happening outside of MCC that happened because of how I was treated at the college,” he said. “I call it my second home.”

At a previous college experience when he was living in Taiwan, North felt burnt out from his busy schedule. He often begins his day as early as 5 a.m. in order to complete his school work and classes in the morning before going to his full-time job where he works as a Technical Support Engineer at a nearby company.

At Middlesex, his professors have created a “nurturing environment” that has helped him thrive, better balance his studies with his work and personal life, and learn more about the industry.

For many of his courses, North is taking hybrid courses – online classes with on campus labs. This allows him to complete coursework on his own time, while also having an opportunity to collaborate with professors and classmates during lab times.

In small class sizes and lab experiences, North and his classmates benefit from working hands-on to develop skills they can carry with them as they continue their education or enter the workforce. Because of his time in the labs, North feels more prepared when it will be time to transfer to a four-year college and believes he could “go to a lab anywhere and work.”

North also appreciates how his professors bring their real-world industry experience into the classroom. While one professor showed students how to access reference books when they are working, in a Physics course another allowed students to use the formula sheet during tests. For North, this emphasizes the importance of understanding what and how they are doing something so in the future, they will be more prepared.

Getting to know his professors has helped enhance his learning, from engaging in conversations to asking for different resources. North notes being encouraged to major in math by Professor Joanna DelMonaco because he had already completed many of the required courses, and learning more about fuel for rockets from Chemistry Professor John Savage because he knew North was interested in the subject.

“All of the professors who I have met are very approachable,” North said. “If you have a problem or idea, if they don’t know the answer, they can suggest who to talk to. It’s been awesome to be part of the school and have the moral support. If I have a bad day, they say ‘you can do it.’”

At the start of his journey, North came to MCC before going to a four-year school because it was close to work, affordable, and allowed him to earn transferable credits. Because of the support and opportunities he has received, he looks forward to the future with both sadness in one day having to leave Middlesex and with excitement for how bright his future is.

And because of how quickly he has seen his life change since coming to Middlesex, North believes in “taking one day at a time” to see where his path leads him.

“One of the things that is clear to me is I do want to graduate from Middlesex,” he said. “I want to get my associate degree, I want to have an MCC diploma. It means a lot to me, more than just a piece of paper. It’s everything that happened here.”

Register now for MCC’s Spring 2022 semester, starting on Monday, January 24. Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/registration/ or call 1-800-818-3434 for more information.

Discover your path at Middlesex Community College. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts, MCC has been a proven leader in education for more than 50 years. Middlesex puts the student first. Meeting each learner where they are, MCC provides them with a safe, welcoming and engaging place to learn. Offering more than 80 degree and certificate programs – plus hundreds of noncredit courses – Middlesex features flexible course formats and a variety of award-winning student support services and resources. Student success starts at MCC!