A CHILD’S DREAM
José Hernández’s parents were from Mexico and they were farm workers. When Jose was a little boy, he worked on farms. He started learning English at the age of 12. Jose’s dream was to become an astronaut. Now, he is a NASA astronaut.
“A lot of kids loved summer vacation,” Hernández said. “My brothers, sister, and I didn’t like it because when we didn’t go to school in summer, we worked on farms seven days a week.”
Every March, the Hernández family travelled from Mexico to California to work. They worked on farms and returned home. On their way home, their father always talked to them about the importance of education because he didn’t study after third grade. He didn’t want his children to be farm workers. He wanted them to study and be successful.
All four children listened to their father’s advice. They studied hard. José followed his dream. His dream was to become an astronaut. He watched the Apollo moon landings in 1960s and 1970s. After that he decided to become an astronaut.
Hernández studied electrical engineering in college. In 1987 he worked as an engineer in California. He moved to Houston in 2001 to work at NASA’s Johnson Space Center as an engineer. At the center they selected him as an astronaut in 2004, after 12 years of trying.
In 2009, he travelled to space with six other astronauts. It was a 14-day trip to the space station. Hernández’s parents, sister, and two brothers watched the liftoff.
In the summer of 2009, his dream came true. That’s why he started a “Reaching for the Stars” group. This group helps children study math, science, engineering, and technology. That’s what Hernández studied.