Kristina Boni felt 鈥渓ost and scared鈥� after graduating from an agricultural and technical high school near her hometown of Reading, Massachusetts. She鈥檇 envisioned becoming a dog groomer, but now she wasn鈥檛 so sure. So she enrolled in Middlesex Community College in Lowell.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 prepared to go to college. I didn鈥檛 have midterms and finals at my high school, and I didn鈥檛 have those resources to learn how to study and manage my time,鈥� Boni says. 鈥淗onestly, community college was a blessing for me.鈥�
An entrepreneurship class with Stacie Hargis, who was also an adjunct faculty member in UMass Lowell鈥檚 Manning School of Business, sparked Boni鈥檚 interest and gave her newfound motivation.
鈥淧rof. Hargis was the first to give me confidence in myself and my abilities,鈥� says Boni, who moved on to the Manning School through the program after earning an associate鈥檚 degree from Middlesex in 2021.
Being a transfer student has its challenges, but Boni has support from a fellow transfer student, mechanical engineering major Alex Gibbs. They met at Middlesex and are engaged to marry.
As a student, Boni likes to force herself to be 鈥渃omfortable with the uncomfortable鈥� 鈥� a lesson she learned from her late father Fred, who died in 2021.
鈥淢y dad always told me, 鈥榊ou鈥檒l never go anywhere if you stay in your comfort zone,鈥欌�� says Boni, who tries to create three 鈥渦ncomfortable鈥� moments for herself each year as a way to grow.
A good example was taking part in a sales competition hosted by consulting services firm ALKU, an experience that came about through a professional communications course with adjunct faculty member Jeremy Ramsey.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 look at business as a linear path,鈥� says Boni, whose concentrations are in marketing and entrepreneurship. 鈥淗aving well-rounded knowledge in accounting, finance and sales sets you apart.鈥�
Another good example was a 10-week summer that Boni landed with NASA during her senior year. While Boni dreamed of working at NASA (鈥淚鈥檝e always been enthralled by the space program and the science behind it鈥�), she wasn鈥檛 holding her breath when she applied to be a marketing and communication specialist with Flight Projects Directorate 鈥� 鈥渢he businesspeople of NASA,鈥� as she puts it 鈥� at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.聽
鈥淚t was an amazing experience,鈥� says Boni, who created a LinkedIn video series promoting opportunities at the directorate and helped develop a communication strategy and logo for its diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives.
鈥淭he great thing about the agency is that I could learn what I wanted to learn,鈥� says Boni, who worked primarily from home but spent a week at the center. 鈥淚f I wanted more experience with writing emails and communications, I could ask for that. Whenever I needed something, I could advocate for myself.鈥�
Now that she has the NASA internship on her r茅sum茅, Boni is interested in working on the commercial side of the aerospace industry, perhaps at SpaceX or Ball Corporation.
She鈥檚 come a long way since those uncertain days out of high school.
鈥淚鈥檓 the type of person that just lets things play out,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut if you鈥檇 told me that I鈥檇 be working at NASA while in college, I never would have believed it.鈥�