{"646031":{"#nid":"646031","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Following His Strengths","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy Kathleen Moore\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering\u0026rsquo;s newest Clark Scholar, Vincent Bell, refuses to take sides in a debate that often divides engineers of a certain ilk.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;I like \u003Cem\u003EStar Wars\u003C\/em\u003E because it\u0026#39;s got The Force, but I also like \u003Cem\u003EStar Trek\u003C\/em\u003E,\u0026quot; says the good-natured, 18 year-old Lawrenceville native. \u0026quot;They both have always made aerospace seem interesting and exciting. And that drew me to the field when I was younger.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe movie that most captures his dreams these days is \u003Cem\u003EHidden Figures\u003C\/em\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;In \u003Cem\u003EHidden Figures\u003C\/em\u003E you see these strong African American women working at NASA to achieve their goals during Jim Crow. You can\u0026#39;t help but be inspired,\u0026quot; he said. \u0026quot;It\u0026#39;s also great because you get to see people working to achieve space flight.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThat sounds an awful lot like what Bell wants to do, and he\u0026#39;s got a plan to do it. At Tech, he will focus on strengthening and building upon his natural talents in mathematics and the sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Growing up, I realized that I picked up math pretty quickly, easily, and that I could even teach others,\u0026quot; he said. \u0026quot;My first job was as a tutor at Mathnasium. I\u0026#39;ve just tried to follow where my strengths lead me.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBell also knows how to make the most of circumstances. As a high school freshman, he joined his school\u0026rsquo;s robotics club, thinking it would give him a leg-up in his bid to become an engineer. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;But the advisor for the club was also the softball coach, so he wasn\u0026rsquo;t around to teach us much during the year,\u0026rdquo; Bell recalls.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I mean the seniors in the club were nice, but they didn\u0026rsquo;t have the skills to teach the freshmen how to make a robot work, and that\u0026rsquo;s why I joined. So, I ended up joining my school\u0026rsquo;s debate club instead, which was great, because I\u0026rsquo;ve always liked making arguments about interesting subjects.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThose skills will come in handy, he figures, when he is called to make presentations before his professors or employers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You have to know how to present yourself logically, calmly, professionally,\u0026rdquo; he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESince coming to Tech in August, Bell has picked up new tutoring jobs and has also gotten involved with \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.gtsbe.org\/ldr\u0022\u003ELambda Delta Rho\u003C\/a\u003E, the freshman\u0026nbsp;leadership component of the Georgia Tech Society of Black Engineers. His long-term goals include a master\u0026rsquo;s degree and most likely a doctorate, he says, but they will definitely include a career in spacecraft design.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;ve actually got a little bit of a fear of heights, so I\u0026rsquo;m thinking more about designing than actually flying,\u0026rdquo; he said with a laugh. \u0026ldquo;That could change, but I\u0026rsquo;m fine sticking with design.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe courses he chose to take for his first semester are a testament to how serious he is about attaining that goal: Computer Science 1371, Applied Physiology 1040, Multivariant Calculus 2551, and English 1102.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Next semester, I might take chemistry, but I might put it off just to make sure I can do well,\u0026quot; he said. \u0026quot;I want to keep my grades up.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile many of his classmates are new to the world of virtual learning, Bell says it harkens back to his childhood when he used distance learning tools as a part of his home-schooling curriculum.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;As a kid, I was used to getting material to learn on my own and then sending it to a tutor to be checked,\u0026quot; he said. \u0026quot;That\u0026#39;s made this semester a little easier, I guess.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELooking ahead, Bell is cautious but also confident. He\u0026rsquo;s learned that hard work pays off and knows an aerospace engineering degree at Tech will require all the effort he can give it. The key, now, is pacing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I\u0026rsquo;m going to concentrate on absorbing as much knowledge as I can from classes, and when I\u0026rsquo;m ready, I\u0026rsquo;m going to go out for internships and maybe a co-op,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;Nothing will top getting an internship at NASA or a private company, like SpaceX. My job now is to prepare myself for that chance when it comes along.\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Clark Scholar Vincent Bell eyes a career in space vehicle design"}],"uid":"35533","created_gmt":"2021-04-02 04:25:34","changed_gmt":"2021-04-02 04:31:03","author":"jbatra8","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2021-04-02T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"646030":{"id":"646030","type":"image","title":"Vincent Bell Clark Scholar","body":null,"created":"1617337198","gmt_created":"2021-04-02 04:19:58","changed":"1617337198","gmt_changed":"2021-04-02 04:19:58","alt":"Headshot of Vincent Bell","file":{"fid":"245264","name":"Screen Shot 2021-04-02 at 12.17.07 AM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202021-04-02%20at%2012.17.07%20AM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202021-04-02%20at%2012.17.07%20AM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":5587219,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202021-04-02%20at%2012.17.07%20AM.png?itok=uFC-8v_Q"}}},"media_ids":["646030"],"groups":[{"id":"604685","name":"Clark Scholars"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"183992","name":"Clark scholars"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}