It's so nice to see this young man smile.
Ahmed Mohammed was a guest on MSNBC's
All In with Chris Hayes last night, where they had a surprise guest— astrophysicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, who works for the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research and the Department of Physics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Watch as she gives Ahmed a dream offer (full transcript below):
Chris Hayes: Someone else wanted to voice their support for you Ahmed—Dr. Chanda Prescod- Weinstein, an astrophysicist at MIT—which Ahmed has called his "dream school." Doctor, you're there, anything you want to say to Ahmed about MIT and what kind of place it would be should he check you out there?
Dr. Weinstein: So, Ahmed, I'm happy that you are coming out on top and I just want to say, by the way, you are my ideal student. A creative, independent thinker like you is the kind of person who should be becoming a physicist. I would love it if you took an interest in the mathematical side, although you're clearly very adept with your hands. And I hope you'll think about theoretical physics. If there's any possibility that you can come visit us at MIT, I would love to give you a tour of the Center for Theoretical Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics. And I'm hearing from my former advisors at Harvard College that they would love for you to come to the center for astrophysics, the Harvard Center Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. So, I really hope that you'll come visit us in Cambridge. It would be fantastic to have you. You are the kind of student that we want in Harvard.
Chris Hayes: Maybe you can go check it out. I know it's early for college, you're only 14, but you know—these things start early these days.
Ahmed: (laughs) Yes, that's a fact right there.
They also discussed the amazing support he's received in the last 24 hours and how it has affected him. Watch this heartfelt segment below:
Chris Hayes: I'm sure you have seen, throughout the day, this outpouring of support from all over the place. Hillary Clinton said, "assumptions and fear don't keep us safe, they hold us back. Ahmed stay curious and keep building." Mark Zuckerberg said you can come visit Facebook. The president of the United States said "cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you, like science, it's what makes America great." How do you feel about this tremendous outpouring of support?
Ahmed: Um. I feel really well, after. Because before, I didn't really get any support because I'm a Muslim boy. So, I thought I was just going to be another victim of injustice. But, thanks to all my supporters on social media, I got this far thanks to you guys. And the way I see it is, I see it as a way of people sending a message to the rest of the world that because of who you are, no matter what you do, people will always have your back.
Chris Hayes: And has that been true of the kids in your school? Friends and folks like that, have you been getting support locally as well? Yes, I've been getting a lot of support locally.
At this rate, Ahmed will be on the International Space Station in a few years. Congrats!