“I have to be honest, NASA had not really been on my radar until it just was. I went to graduate school I actually studied myotonic dystrophy. At the end of my graduate school years I decided I want to go into public service. I applied for this thing called the Presidential Management Fellowship and NASA had an opening! I thought to myself, ‘Oh this could be so interesting! They run so many technology and science programs. I’ll apply and see what happens.’
“Lo and behold, I got an interview! I was so excited and the idea of working at NASA blew me out of the water and I said, ‘I am totally taking this.’
“I had a mentor say something to me that I think rings really true. He said, ‘when you work in public service, there’s no doubt that you’re doing the right thing.’ I think that idea drove me to public service. When you work for a company — there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but you’re really helping the company to meet its bottom line. When you work for a federal agency or a state agency, you’re working to ensure the needs are met for the public. You’re really doing something to benefit others. It’s not to benefit the company and many times it’s not just for yourself, so you always know you’re doing the right thing. I think what drove me was the idea of being able to do something that felt intrinsically fulfilling.”
— Ruth Siboni, Executive Officer, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
Image Credit: NASA / Aubrey Gemignani
Interviewer: NASA / Tahira Allen