DENVER — A Colorado astronaut is back home, safe and sound, after a historic journey to space in September.
Sarah Gillis made history on that Space-X mission by traveling further from Earth than any other woman in history, and by becoming the first human to play the violin in space.
Now, back on Earth, Sarah returned to her old stomping grounds at Shining Mountain Waldorf School in Boulder to inspire a new generation of students with her incredible story.
“I could not have anticipated this big of an adventure when I was a little girl looking up at the stars, so I hope you guys maybe set your dreams a little bigger, because nothing’s impossible,” Gillis said.
From "Most Likely to Walk on the Sun" to Space
In the 2012 yearbook at Shining Mountain Waldorf School, a young Gillis was voted "Most Likely to Walk on the Sun." Although it was a playful prediction, it turned out to be eerily close to reality. Just over a decade later, Sarah made history by journeying into space, a dream she first nurtured while walking the halls of the school.
"It's absolutely here at Shining Mountain that the spark was lit for me," Gillis shared with students during her visit. "This is where it all started."
Her story is not just about reaching for the stars. It’s about believing in the impossible and making it possible, a message Gillis brought back to the students who look up to her.
“You each have this light that you get to bring out into the world and create whatever you want, to become whatever you want, you really have the potential to dream enormous dreams and to make that a reality,” she said.
Among the many highlights of Gillis's mission was the chance to become the first human to play the violin in space. Holding a wooden violin in the microgravity environment of the spacecraft, Gillis performed music in orbit, an experience she described as "one of the joys of the mission."
"It was really special to me to bring this wooden instrument into a 21st-century spacecraft," Gillis explained. "To be able to play music up there was something I’ll never forget."
As part of her visit to Shining Mountain, Gillis’s photo now hangs proudly at the school’s entrance, a reminder to all students who pass by that they, too, can dream big.