Dustin S.: Reaching for the Stars
Dustin S. attended five schools in as many years. Following a hospitalization, community service providers told his mother that she needed to consider a residential treatment center for him. Instead, Dustin was included in a program that enabled him to return home and go back to school – and his life changed dramatically. He excelled in his school work and volunteered with a county Junior Fire Brigade. Through participation in the ODEP-sponsored Maryland High School/High Tech program’s University of Maryland Young Scholars Program, he earned a grade of “A” in a college course and three credits toward his higher education. He also completed a summer internship at NASA’s Robotics Lab at the Goddard Space Flight Center, where he used a virtual reality program to operate a robotic arm designed to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. He also developed a manual for use of the program. Dustin has been invited back to the Goddard center to continue his work during the school year. He now aspires toward a career in computer engineering.
