At its highest point, the NC State Wellness and Recreation Climbing Center’s rock wall reaches 48 feet. During Wolfpack Welcome Weeks, a group of students from the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Living and Learning Village got a chance to set their sights higher – by a couple hundred thousand miles. 

During her visit to NC State’s campus, three-time Wolfpack alumna and astronaut Christina Koch – the first woman to travel around the moon – joined WISE and Wellness and Recreation for Rock the Wall, A Climb Experience with Christina Koch. After speaking and holding a brief question and answer session with the WISE students, Koch helped lead a group climbing experience, belaying students up the rock wall. 

“This is the coolest thing that we could have possibly done all year.”

“We’re just so thrilled that we managed to pull this off. This is the coolest thing that we could have possibly done all year,” said Ariel Nikas Rhea, the director of Women in Science and Engineering. 

Meeting a Hero

The students in the WISE Village have long followed Koch’s career with great interest. This summer, as Artemis II launched, traveled around the moon and returned to Earth, many WISE students gathered together to watch the various milestones. 

“It’s a dream come true,” Nikas Rhea said. “It’s very close to home for a lot of our students. All of my students live in Lee Hall, where Christina also lived while she was here at NC State. My community has been extremely invested in this from the beginning. Ever since it was announced that Christina was going on the moon, I’ve had students ask me ‘Is Christina coming on campus? Can she visit WISE?’”

As Koch prepared for a visit to campus that would entail the dedication of Koch Hall on Centennial Campus, a grand celebration on The Oval and the unveiling of Howl at the Moon, a new Howling Cow ice cream flavor dedicated to the beloved astronaut, the WISE students learned that they would have a chance to meet their hero. 

“I was excited beyond words,” said Francesca Gervase, a fourth-year student studying soil science. “I just thought, ‘what an incredible opportunity.’ I actually was in the WISE space when we watched the Artemis II launch. I watched her go into orbit and lift off in the rocket. So it really felt like such a full-circle moment.”

“I was excited beyond words.”

Koch spoke to the students about her time at NC State and her career with NASA, and how lessons and experiences during her time with the Wolfpack helped her in her journey as an astronaut. 

Nikas Rhea spoke to Koch’s messaging about grit, resilience and the importance of leaning on community as particularly impactful for her students. 

“One of the things that I loved the most was her talking about risk mitigation and that it’s OK to fail,” Gervase said. “That really stuck out to me, along with her talking about her own experiences with imposter syndrome and how she’s had to combat that. I think imposter syndrome can be prevalent in high-achieving women in STEM. And so it’s reassuring to hear how she’s taken on that perspective and combatted it.” 

“It was really important to hear that the most important thing is to be yourself.”

Koch also spoke about authenticity, which many audience members also found impactful. 

“It was very inspiring,” said Sophia Sumutka, a second-year student studying mechanical engineering. “There’s a stereotype for engineers, and I feel like I don’t really fit into that, and a lot of people I know don’t. It was really important to hear that the most important thing is to be yourself.” 

On Belay!

After the students finished their discussion with Koch, it was on to the climbing wall, where the 60-plus students split into two groups, with each getting a chance to try their hand at the climbing wall. 

Before the event began, Koch told Erin Heiser, an assistant director with Wellness and Recreation over the Climbing Center, that she solely wanted to belay students up the wall, to encourage them to try climbing. 

“She shared with me that if she could belay 20 people or more at the wall and they tried something that they didn’t think they could try, that would be her crowning moment, her point that she knew that she was successful with that event,” Heiser said. 

Much like the trip around the moon, that endeavor was mission accomplished for Koch, as nearly every attendee of the event attempted to climb the wall, many for the first time. 

Throughout the climbing exercise, Koch was an enthusiastic supporter of the group of students, cheering them on from the base of the wall with a smile on her face. 

“It was really special,” said Omar Ismail, a fourth-year student studying computer science. “I didn’t really know how many things we had in common. She was in Electrical Engineering, I’m her neighbor in Computer Science. Now I get to attend classes in Koch Hall. It’s really great to be in that hall. But I also found out that she found her love for climbing at NC State when she was taking rock climbing with the Health and Exercise Studies Department. I remember that when I joined NC State, the first thing I saw in Carmichael Gym was the rock climbing wall. So we both found that passion for climbing at NC State. I found that really special. Being able to actually meet with someone who’s been the farthest away from the Earth was out of this world.” 

“Being able to actually meet with someone who’s been the farthest away from the Earth was out of this world.” 

Climbing into the Future

The WISE students who took part in this event were already able to find many parallels between themselves and Koch. The village is located in Lee Residence Hall, where Koch lived as an undergraduate NC State student. 

Most of the students in the village are in either the College of Sciences or College of Engineering, both of which Koch called home at NC State. And, in climbing the wall, they took part in another formative experience from Koch’s time at NC State. She climbed at Faux Rock, now located in Carmichael Gym West, during her time with the Wolfpack, an experience that continued to serve her well throughout her career. 

“She shared that climbing was a pivotal part of her experience at NC State,” Heiser said. “She noticed afterwards that she kept falling back on her climbing experience throughout her career. She learned resiliency, she learned how to problem solve, and there was a bunch of stuff that she did at the wall that made it so special for her. She had her full-circle moment by coming back and climbing at the wall with the new Climbing Center and encouraging the students from the WISE Living and Learning Village to step out of their comfort zone and do something new for the first time.” 

“She had her full-circle moment by coming back and climbing at the wall.”

For some of the students in the WISE group, it was their first time climbing the wall, and having Koch there inspired them to try something new. 

“I’m not the greatest with heights, but it was a good time to try something new,” Sumutka said. “I’m very glad that I tried. It was a lot of fun.” 

Others, however, have become avid climbers at NC State, and enjoy the physical and mental challenges that it poses. 

“It’s a puzzle in that you have to figure out how to get up the wall, how you can get around things,” said Adrien Noel, a second-year student studying microbiology and plant biology. “I can see why it appeals to an astronaut. It’s a risk, but it’s a calculated one. It’s something you do to better yourself both mentally and physically, and it’s really rewarding when you get to the top.”

“It’s something you do to better yourself both mentally and physically, and it’s really rewarding when you get to the top.”

Heiser shared that the benefits of climbing include gaining experience getting outside of your comfort zone, developing problem-solving skills, stress management and finding a community, especially for students who climb regularly. 

For the WISE students, being willing to get out of their comfort zone and try climbing is an example of the mindset that will serve them well in their future careers. 

“STEM fields have so many challenges in so many different ways,” Nikas Rhea said. “Something that’s so important for people who are getting into research like my students is knowing that research is not always a smooth and easy path. You can try many experiments and some of them will end up failing, potentially. It’s really the people who keep going and keep trying who end up having success. So trying something new, getting outside of your comfort zone and really facing challenges head-on is an important lesson that I hope they can take away from this event.” 

“Trying something new, getting outside of your comfort zone and really facing challenges head-on is an important lesson that I hope they can take away from this event.”

Having a personal hero like Koch there to belay and cheer on the students encouraged many of them to try climbing for the first time. 

Going forward, it’s an experience that can help their future willingness to step outside their comfort zones – and perhaps continue to set their sights even higher than a 48-foot rock wall. 

“I think that made a huge impact,” Heiser said. “I think a lot of the students that were from WISE who experienced that told myself and my staff that they were very hesitant to try climbing, however, after the experience, they really fell in love with the sport, and they definitely want to come back and climb. I think it will be huge for our community to just see new climbers coming in.”