As an engineering student at Fresno State, Chris McComb was busy. It seemed as though projects were due every day, exams took place every class period, and homework was assigned to fill the gaps. His life was full—but not complete. At least, not until he started volunteering with MESA.

MESA, or the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement Schools Program, is intended for middle and high school students; it is designed to spark their interest in careers in engineering and science. MESA programs are always in need of volunteers to judge competitions and teach workshops on skills and concepts. These volunteers are typically university students who are majoring in science, technology, or engineering.

Chris' first experience with MESA was during his junior year at Fresno State. With some classmates, he was teaching high school students about the engineering design process. The students greeted the news that they would be designing a glider using only a styrofoam plate with incredulous stares.

But their faces lit up one by one as Chris and his classmates explained the process that engineers use to solve problems. The students made and tested their gliders over the next hour. Some flew well, and others only made it a few feet, but this lesson wasn’t really about flight.

"They’d learned that even the most insurmountable task may, in fact, be quite possible," Chris said.

Until this point, Chris had dreamed of becoming an engineering professional, designing bridges and machines for the good of the world.

"But that day, my outlook changed," he said. "It dawned on me that I could do even greater things as an engineering educator."

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