Aug 30

Written by: Karie Dozer
8/30/2009 8:54 PM

Somewhere over our heads today is 47 year old Jose Hernandez, a NASA astronaut orbiting the earth in the space shuttle discovery. As amazing as modern-day space travel is, the neatest thing about this mission is Hernandez himself. The son of Mexican migrant farm workers, Hernandez and his brothers and sisters spent weekends working the fields and weekdays working the books. His parents made sure he got an education, and during the little downtime the family enjoyed, Hernandez' job at home was adjusting the rabbit ears on the old family TV so they could all see the picture. Here is a guy who didn't feel sorry for himself that his parents were migrant workers. He applied himself, behaved himself, and decided he would make something of himself. He ascended the ranks within a tough NASA astronaut program, and now his tweets go out in Spanish and English from thousands of miles above the earth. He proves a few things. One--Anyone can acheive, even if their parents don't speak English and perhaps came here without the benefit of citizenship. Two-- real hard work, even the physical kind, doesn't hurt. In fact, it can help shape a sucess story in a very high-tech world. Three-Perseverence can send you flying high. Even into space. 

And what a great reminder to never judge a book by it's cover. Or the language it is written in.

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