Dream the Impossible...

From migrant worker to Astronaut, Jose Hernandez has a very inspiring story. Although he was born in America, he spent his childhood working half of the year in his parent’s native country, Mexico, and the other half working in America. He didn’t even learn to speak English until he was 12 years old. Although he came from a family of field workers, he was compelled to pursue higher education. He was later inspired to challenge himself after hearing the story of America’s first Latin American astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz. He heard stories of Franklin’s life and realized they had many things in common. It was at that moment that his journey to NASA began. Hernandez said in an interview …Hey, if Franklin can do it, why can’t I do it? After 12 years of applying, and many strides in the field of engineering, Jose Hernandez was accepted into NASA at the age of 41. Several years later, he became a mission specialist aboard the STS-128. He completed that 14 day journey in September 11, 2009. In another interview Hernandez said I just want people to know that it is ok to dream the impossible.

I agree with Hernandez. It is ok for you to dream that you can do, be, and experience the things that are felt to be incapable of being done, attained or fulfilled. Once you give yourself permission to dream about it, I want you to visualize yourself being successful at it. Then, I don’t care how impossible it may seem, I want you to develop a plan to make that dream a reality. If you would have spoken to Jose Hernandez one hot, summer day, while he was hard at work in a field in Mexico, and asked him if he wanted to be an astronaut he would have probably looked at you crazy…especially if you were speaking to him in English. Once he challenged himself to do what little boys and girls only dream of doing, the sky was no longer the limit for him! He took that spirit of hard work into the classroom and then to NASA and turned his dream into his reality!

Get inspired again! Challenge yourself! Dream the impossible…

To Blog…Nakeia