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HERNANDEZ: There were a lot of things that inspired me
in becoming an astronaut and a lot of people
that helped me along the way.
For example, the very first time
I got inspired to become an astronaut --
and I have to say, unfortunately,
I'm old enough to remember
the tail end of the Apollo program --
was when I would watch the Apollo missions
as they landed on the Moon
and the astronauts perform the moon walks.
During that time, everybody in the United States
and in the world, for that matter,
were glued to their TV sets, and our family was no different.
And that's when I said, "You know, that's what I want to be."
And, of course, what I wanted to do is --
You know, I said -- I'm sure every kid
that was 9, 10 years old at the time wanted to be an astronaut,
so I was no different.
But, you know, I have to give credit to my parents
because I shared this dream with my parents and,
you know, any other parent could have said,
"Hey, maybe you're shooting too high of a goal."
And even though they only have a 3rd-grade education,
they actually encouraged me and said, "Hey, anything's possible.
"It's okay to dream.
"If you get a good education,
you study hard, you can reach your dream."
And so that was the first --
the beginning of my journey to becoming an astronaut.
And as I went into school, of course, my parents would always,
always be on top of us,
with respect to finishing our homework.
I mean, our routine would be we would come home,
and we would sit on the kitchen table,
and my parents would not let us go.
My mom would not let us go until we finished the homework.
Then she would let us go out and play.
But the homework always came first.
And then, as I went on to high school,
I was a senior in high school,
and I heard big news that really changed my outlook,
in terms of what I was really gonna be,
and that was when I heard that Franklin Chang-Díaz
got selected as an astronaut.
He was the first Hispanic-American
to get selected.
And at that time, that's when I told myself,
you know, after I looked at his bio, you know,
because he came from Costa Rica, and so he looked just like me.
I said, "Well, he looks just like me."
And then he spoke English with an accent, just like me.
And he came from humble beginnings just like me,
yet there he was -- an astronaut.
And I said, "You know what?
If he could do it, why can't I do it?"
And that's when I promised myself
that I would do everything in my power
as a senior in high school --
'cause I knew I was going to college at that time.
I was gonna do everything in my power
to get selected as a NASA astronaut.