Manju Bangalore: looking at things from an interdisciplinary lens

Published: Oct. 29, 2021, 9 a.m.

In today’s episode, we speak with 24 years old future astronaut Manju Bangalore, who also is an actor, an artist and an organizer. Manju received her Bachelor in Science from the University of Oregon in physics with a minor in math and after having been rejected 100 times, she finally got accepted to be working at two NASA centers during her undergraduate career. Manju is sharing with us what gave her the persistence to make her dream happen and who her role model was ever since she was a young girl. Outside of her scientific career, Manju is also an artist. She has been acting since she was 10 years old, and her farvorite experience onscreen so far has been working with Beyoncé on the set of Black Is King for the Brown Skin Girl music video. It fascinates me how Manju chooses to pursue a multitude of career paths all at the same time without being afraid of losing focus. You will hear why she thinks that is no problem but rather a plus. Manju is also the founder of two nonprofits. She founded Operation Period, a youth-led, all-volunteer menstrual health nonprofit. To date, the organization has provided more than 200.000 menstrual products to those in need. Her second nonprofit is called Painting With Parkinson’s, to provide free painting kits and art classes to those affected by Parkinson’s in honor of her father. Last but not least we will learn from her how she wants to be remembered. We are looking forward to speaking with you on Before It’s Too Late today, Manju Bangalore!