Tiera Fletcher ’17: Finding the purpose that propels us

The aerospace engineer, mentor, and author talks motivation and representation with MIT Libraries staff. In describing her path from Mableton, Georgia, to working on NASA's Space Launch System, Tiera Fletcher '17 confesses to having a case of imposter syndrome. After a high school career full of honors and accolades, she arrived at MIT filled with hesitation. "The grades started coming in, and I thought maybe I needed to move back to Georgia," she says. Then Fletcher got a tip from a fellow student to study in Barker Library. "I end up walking into this beautiful space; the architecture was amazing," she says. "I look at the ceiling, and the hesitation kind of leaves my body, because I realize that I have been placed in this amazing space, so I must be OK, academically."   That moment changed the trajectory of Fletcher's academic career, she told an audience of MIT Libraries staff in Bartos Theater on June 13 in a keynote speech for a recent staff conference.