Allan Petre, 23, will realize his dream of working for NASA, the American space agency. Since childhood, Allan has dreamed of space. However, his teachers quickly reminded him that it was a “very selective and closed” sector. These words frightened the 17-year-old young man, pushing him to study management and business administration. Quickly, Allan understood that this field was not for him. He reoriented himself and took the competitive examination to enter an engineering school.
During his studies, he completed a work-study program at Ariane Group, the European leader in rocket launchers. “My parents did not have the financial means to help me. I wanted to finance my studies myself,” he confided to Le Parisien. Subsequently, he had the opportunity to go to Florida for an internship in an astrophysics laboratory. Once in the United States, he decided to try his luck by contacting a NASA researcher. This initiative allowed him to get an interview, which he passed.
Next January, the young qualified aeronautical engineer will join the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and work on future NASA missions. “The message I would like to convey is that opportunities do not always come directly to us, we have to create them,” he said.
As Midi Libre explains, Emmanuel Macron was very touched by this journey. The president sent a message to the young man on LinkedIn: “Bravo for this journey and this perseverance. You are an example of French success, proof that you must believe in your dreams and that our Grandes Écoles lead to excellence.”
