Wendy Lawrence: Astronaut

This is another of my favorite letters. This is one of the very first letters to my students that I received. I got this in 1999, when I was still in college. There are several interesting things about this letter. First, notice that she dated it as 7/2/59. I think that is her birthday, kind of odd. Also I received this letter a few months after I returned from a trip to Houston, Texas. I was there trying out for the Houston Astros and took a trip to Johnson Space Center. While there I got to see mission control in action since there was an actual mission in space at the time. It turns out that Wendy Lawrence was on that mission. Also, my second or third year of teaching I did an experiment with some seeds from NASA that had flown on the space shuttle. They were on the same flight as Wendy Lawrence, the same one I saw at mission control. Besides the letter and picture, she also sent a mission patch from that mission. Below is the text of her letter.

Dear Martin,

Thank you for your letter. I commend you on wanting to work with the young people of our country. They need to be surrounded by people who care about them.
Often I have the opportunity to speak to grade school students. I always tell them to stay in school and get the best education possible because a good education will open doors for them. Also I tell them to take care of their minds and bodies and to do so by not abusing alcohol or by taking drugs. I strongly encourage them to keep away from things that will keep them from being all they can be.
I hope that my comments will be helpful.
Sincerely,
Wendy Lawrence