Rogers Scholars on Thursday toured the John F. Kennedy Space Center via a live, interactive videoconference with NASA officials.

The videoconference—presented by NASA’s Digital Learning Network and brought to Scholars by The Center for Rural Development’s CenterNET2 videoconferencing network—gave them a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to prepare a spacecraft for liftoff.

Earlier in the day, guest speaker J.P. Blevins, a former University of Kentucky men’s basketball player, challenged Scholars to follow their dreams, set goals, and work on reaching those goals every day.

At the age of 8, Blevins had a dream that he would someday play basketball on the court of historic Rupp Arena as a University of Kentucky Wildcat.

Blevins accomplished that dream, playing four years of basketball there. In an inspirational speech, he told Scholars that they can do anything they set their minds to if they set goals and strive to achieve them.

“Have a dream,” Blevins encouraged Scholars, “and be willing to go after it with every bit of your heart and soul.”

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