I was a second-grader when Sen. John Glenn became the oldest man to fly in space and the only one to fly in both the Mercury and the Space Shuttle Program. As my fellow classmates and I watched the Space Shuttle Discovery lift off with Glenn inside, my heart pounded and I thought to myself what a brave man he was.

From that point on, I read everything I could on Glenn and dreamed of meeting him one day. I finally would have opportunity to meet with Glenn in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio on numerous occasions between 2014-2016, as I began to write extensively on his life and legacy in what would become the basis for my graduate thesis.