Latino astronaut addresses high school students in McAllen

McALLEN — Math was Jose Hernandez’s refuge.

Born in Stockton, Calif., the son of Mexican migrant workers, he followed his parents as they harvested crops in California during the spring and back to Michoacán during the winter.

He wasn’t able to master English until he was 11, but language didn’t matter in math. As he got older, he just continued with it.

On Aug. 28, Hernandez soared into space as an astronaut.

“When I was going up, I started thinking that I was that boy that harvested strawberries and now I was a U.S. astronaut,” Hernandez said in Spanish on Friday at the McAllen Convention Center, where he was about to speak to some 300 honor roll students from various high schools.

Some of the young scholars were part of a South Texas College dual enrollment program. The program allows them to take STC courses, earning credits that count toward an STC degree or certificate as well as toward their high school diplomas.

Hernandez was part of the crew of space shuttle mission STS-128 and served as chief of the Materials and Processes Branch at Johnson Space Center in Houston. His next mission could be a six-month stay on the International Space Station in 2013.

“It took me 12 years to become an astronaut,” Hernandez said. “Twelve times I applied. On the first six years they said, ‘Don’t call us; we will call you,’ and in the last six years I interviewed for three classes and it was in the third (interview) try that I got selected for (the) class (of) 2004,” Hernandez said.

He said he was inspired by the first Latino astronaut, Franklin Chang-Diaz, to pursuit this career and has now embraced the task of inspiring younger generations himself.

“I think kids need role models, and I understand the importance of role models, because what made me make the personal promise to become an astronaut was when I heard that the first Latino-American was selected,” Hernandez said, referring to Chang-Diaz. “Back in 1980, I was a senior in high school and I heard that news, and once I saw that someone that looks like me was going to be an astronaut, I said, ‘Hey, if he can do it, so can I.’”

The electrical engineer realized that a bachelor’s degree was not going to be enough to get into NASA, so he went back to school and got a master’s degree in communications.

He later was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from the University of California-Santa Barbara. He said perseverance toward one’s goal is important, but it is also important to be ready for the next try at that goal.

“There is opportunity when you are prepared,” Hernandez said. “If you are not prepared, there will not be an opportunity.”

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Martha L. Hernández covers Mission, western Hidalgo County and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4846.