Following Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s appearance on the Hack Club last week, students who participated in the call left their own opinions of the entrepreneur earlier today in a new video.
The Hack Club is a group that dedicates itself to helping high school students learn coding and other software languages through “tinkering and building projects.” On April 22, the Hack Club announced a special guest of honor in an Ask Me Anything style of interview. That guest was Elon Musk.
The interview lasted over an hour, and Musk complimented the students on the numerous questions that they had asked. Ranging from Musk’s business ventures to his tastes, to his opinions on cryonics, the CEO stated that the questions yielded by the students were better than many of the ones he receives from mainstream media members.
Less than a week after the Q&A session, the students had the opportunity to share their personal experiences when talking with one of the world’s most exciting business figures. Many of them were pleasantly surprised by how “normal” the CEO was, stating it was like talking to a normal human being.
One student even went as far as saying, “I don’t know what I thought a billionaire would sound like, but this guy is aggressively normal.”
Another said, “I was surprised that his demeanor was so loose. I mean, usually on other interviews he’s a bit more tense, but I guess since he’s around…a bunch of teenagers, he can be a bit less tense than he normally is.”
The opportunity many of these students had was one that many people will only be able to dream about having. Musk joined the students over a webcam and answered all of the questions they had, making the experience a memorable one for all of the students involved.
What is perhaps most important to the kids who had the opportunity to pick the brain of Musk was the fact that they were able to experience what a conversation with a man who appears to be “larger than life” is like outside of work. Many people have speculated that Musk is from the future, or perhaps even an Alien from outer space. However, he is a normally functioning human being who happens to think outside the box and has used the money he has made from past projects to advance automotive technology and space flight.
Perhaps for those who participated, it was a glimpse into what the future could be. With enough hard work and innovative thinking, one of the students could end up being the next Elon Musk. The experience of talking with the man responsible for so many new technologies that could end up saving the future of human civilization may have been life-changing for many of them.
Watch Hack Club students talk about their first impressions of Elon Musk below. The full interview is available here.