As a girl in West Virginia, Katherine Johnson counted everything: the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the dishes she washed. Her father was so determined she would reach her potential that he moved the family 120 miles so she could keep going to school. She finished high school at 14 and college at 18. Later, as a NASA mathematician, her calculations helped send Americans into space. Before astronaut John Glenn orbited Earth, he wanted her to check the numbers. He said, “If she says they’re good, then I am ready to go.” In 2015 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Quiet faithfulness in the details builds the kind of trust others can launch on.
