Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Roper.
Christopher, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in Germany and spent several years of my earlier childhood learning German culture. From there, I spent time majority of my childhood in San Antonio, Texas and migrated to Atlanta, Georgia prior to high school. As a young boy, I found myself always curious on how things worked and what existed beyond what the human eyes could ‘see’. When looking up at the stars, this commandeered my imagination and drove many questions such as, “how can we get up there safely and…what is actually up there?”. In school, I was the young student who had more questions than answers and by the 7th grade, I enthusiastically told myself that I was pursuing Aerospace Engineering. Going to college was a no brainer and being the first-generation graduate student in my family wasn’t going to be an obstacle for me.
During my undergraduate career, I afforded numerous social, personal, and professional opportunities that have made a tremendous impact in my overall development. I rose to the challenge to be a leader in my community and represented what I wished I saw more of: someone who looked like me pursing literally something out of this world. My undergraduate program story is actually interesting, I got to experience undergraduate…twice. I completed a dual-degree with Physics and Mechanical Engineering and graciously acquired a strong background in Mathematics and Aerospace Engineering. When people asked me if this journey was ‘hard’ or ‘overwhelming’, I simply say I just raised my curiosity level higher.
I experienced some of my most emotional moments during my undergraduate timeline. I experienced racial profiling, isolation, and to my surprise, Nay Sayers from people who I did not expect. From “I wasn’t going to make it” to “this isn’t meant for you”. When I look back at everything, I am grateful for the small village I cherish even today who were rooting for me since the beginning. I champion these people! Toward the end of undergraduate career, I was fortunate to publish papers, presentations, travel to host talks, winning awards, meeting prominent figures, and winning fellowship opportunities. In my final walking moments crossing the stage and receiving both of my degrees: I made a promise to myself that in order to change the world…I have to be the change.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth is a good question, I believe that term is relative. In my pursuits, I did not understand this terminology. I have been thankful to forge my mindset earlier in my life, especially in childhood. Like many people on this planet, I was exposed to the many challenges of being raised in a single-parent household- this opened a door to a whole new perspective. Although I was privilege of having a strong mother (I call her Superwoman), it required me to accelerate my maturity much faster than my peers. Growing up, I’ve had to make difficult financial decisions that forced my options and constantly negotiating on a daily basis. Such as negotiating the weight of importance of obtaining the next meal or filling up my gas tank and commute to class. To be honest, when self-reflecting, I wouldn’t change a single thing. This is a struggle victory. This is a story that, if moved by a least one person, I did the right thing because it helped someone else relate and not feel alone. I understand we cannot choose how we are brought into this world but sharing my opinion, there’s really only two things in life you can control: your attitude and your actions. I choose to overcome adversity and engulf myself with positive energy attitude.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
There are many career pathways I am currently pursuing at this moment. I am feeding my hunger for knowledge by pursuing my Doctorate in Aerospace Engineering and currently working as a graduate researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I am fascinated in how one can use advanced plasma physics to propel space vehicles into deep space. I have also been privileged to leverage my scientific research at NASA working as a research engineer in the Science and Space Technology branch. As humble as I am, what sets me apart from others, is one of my most exciting projects being an entrepreneur: my active pursuit of generational wealth by developing a true passive income asset. Entrepreneurship has taught me numerous lessons in life, one cannot negotiate the price of success if they want to be the commander of their trajectory.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My future plans look to being financially independent and being able to help love ones like my mother and sister retire early. I also look forward to one day becoming an astronaut!
Contact Info:
Image Credit:
David Caselli, Naia Butler-Craig
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