A small setback can discourage even the best person from reaching his or her goal. Or even give up altogether.

But not Matthew Mitchell.

Mitchell, a senior computer science major, has a spinal cord injury from a motorcycle accident. However, he was able to participate in a 10-week summer internship, held from May 29 to Aug. 3, with NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

“He’s an exceptional man,” said Shelia Milan, instructor and coordinator of the Center for Access-Ability Resources. “He doesn’t miss any of his classes and is serious and focused.”

He gained the opportunity through Entry Point, a program that places qualified students with disabilities to work with companies. Mitchell applied in fall 2000 by submitting a resume, transcripts and a cover letter.

At the internship, Mitchell developed a Web-based tool that took data from a satellite tile with an instrument called an Advance Very High Resolution Radiomotor, which receives and measures reflections of the sun’s rays.

Mitchell always has been interested in computers, and he wanted to learn more.

“The project was something that NASA just placed me in,” Mitchell said. “Other interns were doing things like animation.”

Of the 70 interns at the internship, Mitchell’s project was one of nine award-winners.

Mitchell will have the opportunity to work at NASA, if he chooses.

“I haven’t decided if I want to start working after graduation or go to graduate school,” Mitchell said.

If Mitchell hadn’t gotten into the motorcycle accident, he said he would have ended up working on the farm on which he grew up.

“I would have never gone to college,” Mitchell said. “It forced me to look at other opportunities.” angel hernandez photo

Senior computer science major Matthew Mitchell keeps his mind on school and was rewarded for that with an internship from NASA.