Flying aboard a Russian rocket that linked up with the International Space Station, Olsen shared the story of his 10 days in space with students at Grant Elementary school in Trenton.
"And to float weightless like you saw in those pictures was just a great experience."
Olsen answered dozens of questions about what it's like to live in space and showed pictures of him drinking water in a weightless capsule.
He told the kids he was a poor student early on who had trouble with math only to turn that around and earn several advanced degrees.
"Don't give up. That's really the secret to life," he said. "If you really want to do something don't give up."
The world's 3rd civilian astronaut has traveled to schools all over New Jersey hoping to encourage children, especially minorities and females, to consider careers in science and engineering. The talks seem to be working.
"That was really fun because I learned a lot of stuff I didn't know like gravity G force," said Winston Pena.
"He was born here in New Jersey and he went to space that means we have a chance to go to space like him," said Carlin Rodriguez.
"It captured me when he started talking about how he did bad in math because I'm struggling with math, making me feel like anything is possible and I have a chance to be an astronaut too," said Jahmir Miller.
Greg Olsen hopes his experience will help others reach for the stars, too.
