JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) – Soon, she’s headed to the moon, but on Tuesday, an astronaut from Eastern North Carolina shared her experience with students from her home county.
It’s part of Onslow County Schools Cognicon summer camp.
White Oak High School and NC State graduate, Christina Koch taught students how to never give up on their dreams, and quite literally shoot for the stars. The astronaut has already made history herself, so she was speaking from experience.
Christina Koch (NASA photo) 
(L-R) Astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Hammock Koch hug fellow astronauts after being selected for the Artemis II mission who will venture around the Moon during a news conference held by NASA and CSA at Ellington airport in Houston, Texas, on April 3, 2023. – Traveling aboard NASAs Orion spacecraft during Artemis II, the mission is the first crewed flight test on the agencys path to establishing a long-term scientific and human presence on the lunar surface. (Photo by Mark Felix / AFP) (Photo by MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images) 
This combination of photos shows, from left, astronauts Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman. On Monday, April 3, 2023, NASA announced the three Americans and one Canadian as the crew who will be the first to fly the Orion capsule, launching atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than late 2024. (NASA, CSA via AP) 
NASA Astronaut and North Carolina State University alumna Christina Koch 
Credit: NASA 
NASA astronaut Christina Koch returned to Earth on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020 after logging 328 days in space — the longest spaceflight in history by a woman — as a member of Expeditions 59-60-61 on the International Space Station. Credits: NASA / Robert MarkowitzPhoto Date: February 7, 2020. Location: Ellington Field, Guppy Hangar. Photographer: Robert Markowitz 
Christina Koch (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool) 
In this photo made available by U.S. astronaut Christina Koch via Twitter on Dec. 26, 2019, she and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano pose for a photo with a cookie baked on the International Space Station. The results are finally in for the first chocolate chip cookie bake-off in space. While looking more or less normal, the best cookies required two hours of baking time last month up at the International Space Station. It takes far less time on Earth, under 20 minutes. And how do they taste? No one knows. (NASA via AP, File) 
In this photo released by NASA on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, U.S. astronauts Jessica Meir, left, and Christina Koch pose for a photo in the International Space Station. On Friday, Oct. 18, 2019, the two are scheduled to perform a spacewalk to replace a broken battery charger. (NASA via AP) 
NASA photo of Christina Koch, of Jacksonville, NC 
Koch taught students about her experiences aboard the International Space Station, learning about the physical change of zero gravity…
“I was very interested in how she said that the heart adapts on its own, given the planetary gravitational changes,” said Hunters Creek Middle School student Braddock Gonyea.
Students said they were also interested in the different studies and research they did while in space.
“I think it’s really nice that just by being in space, we can maybe discover the cure for cancer, or maybe finally end the coronavirus pandemic,” said Jacksonville Commons Middle School student Simon Caro.
Students also got the chance to ask her questions about things they wanted to know more about.
“A lot of the kids had questions, they came to me and said, ‘I have questions for her,’ and I think that is important because that’s how you learn,” said Amanda Allen, AIG Specialist for Onslow County Schools.
“‘What courses did you take in college, the most important ones that helped you get ready for where you are?’” said Jaylin Ridges of Bell Fork Elementary School.
They all were looking up to her as a Jacksonville native.
“Jacksonville, you just kind of feel like it’s a town in the middle of nowhere. But then, knowing that there’s a person that went to space, it makes me proud of being from North Carolina,” said Caro.
Thinking about the future is what many kids are now doing, adding going to space to their list.
“If I were to be an astronaut, that definitely would not upset me,” said Gonyea.
As for Koch, she is currently training for the Artemis 2 mission to the moon in November of 2024.
