Some advice from former Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison

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Azrael
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Some advice from former Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison

Post by Azrael »

Image

A Space to Call Her Own
Former astronaut Mae Jemison shares her philosophy on education, technology and achieving success.


excerpts below:

So you didn't set out to be the first African-American woman in space?

MJ: In fact, I'm very sorry that I am. When I was growing up, there's no way that I would have imagined that women wouldn't have gone up into space until 1984 with Sally Ride. It's ridiculous as far as my conception of what the world should be like. When I was a little girl, I couldn't understand—nor can anyone explain to me now, beyond the political and cultural reasons—why women weren't part of the astronaut program from the very beginning. I'm not the first woman of color to have the skills, the talent or the desire to be involved.

There must have been times in your career when you encountered sexism or racism. How did you deal with this?

MJ: Of course I did! The biggest point is to recognize them for what they are. When you run into barriers, first of all look inside yourself to see if there is something you can do. Then move beyond that. Let it be their problem. Of course that problem is going to influence you and it's not necessarily going to be easy. We all want folks to believe in us. It's difficult as a student if a professor doesn't believe in you and I think we all face that difficulty, whether we're minority students or women students or white males.

That's where it's so important to be inside of yourself. It's nice to have kudos and appreciation, but unless you can look inside yourself and appreciate yourself when people start to take those rewards from you, you won't be able to move on.

Did any of those hurdles ever prevent you from achieving a goal?

MJ: I don't know, because my point of view is, if I want to do something, I'm going to do it. I may have to figure out a way around it or through it. That's also where flexibility comes into play. Maybe I can't achieve something right now, but I still keep it in mind and I'm going to get it later.
I haven't really dwelled on things much because to hang around back there with that disappointment is to carry it forward with you everyday. It's not that you forget the lessons, but to hang out with them and bring them up at a moment's notice takes away some of the enjoyment of your present time as well as what you look forward to in the future. Don't wallow in [the past], but don't forget it. You see patterns, you see things that happened and you put them in your tool kit. I remember when I didn't get as warm a reception in the physical sciences as I did in the social sciences. I was an undergraduate student and one of the things I did was to spend a lot of time in the social sciences. I didn't stop doing the physical sciences, but I was able to get a balance. I did a lot of dance, for example, and that would give me energy and enthusiasm that I would have to bring to some of my classes where my professors weren't as thrilled to see me.

What are some of your current goals?

MJ: I work on how different technologies can be designed and implemented with the issues of sustainable development in mind, [which] I define as the ability to increase human quality of life now in such a way that it does not compromise future generations' quality of life. You have to take into account individual and societal aspirations and how they interplay not only with our ecosystem and our resources and technologies, but how they influence what technologies we decide to design and build. You may have an understanding of nuclear physics, for example, but it's our choice as a society whether we decide to use that understanding for nuclear bombs, nuclear power plants or nuclear medicine.

[jump]

In a society that lacks those images, are mentors even more important?

MJ: Mentoring is very helpful but I don't think that not having a mentor going through your career should stand in your way. Sometimes I get a little bit disturbed that we have so many terms and so many things we tell students that they need, and that starts to bog you down. Sometimes we can talk so much about roadblocks and impediments and racism and sexism that people start to bow down to it, much more than if you just mention it peripherally and you know it's there but we don't obsess on it. As you start telling that to children they start worrying that maybe they really can't make it.
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Simple Minded

Re: Some advice from former Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison

Post by Simple Minded »

Outstanding post!!!

Good for her! Sounds like she had some excellent parents or other influences early in life.
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Torchwood
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Re: Some advice from former Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison

Post by Torchwood »

Sally Ride was not the first woman in space:Valentina Tereshkova was, twenty years before the USA.

The US space programme certainly had the "right stuff" and that seemed to include sexism and racism for a surprisingly long period.
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Azrael
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Re: Some advice from former Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison

Post by Azrael »

Torchwood wrote:Sally Ride was not the first woman in space:Valentina Tereshkova was, twenty years before the USA.
Russians don't count. :wink:
The US space programme certainly had the "right stuff" and that seemed to include sexism and racism for a surprisingly long period.
Indeed.
cultivate a white rose
Simple Minded

Re: Some advice from former Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison

Post by Simple Minded »

Azrael wrote:
Torchwood wrote:Sally Ride was not the first woman in space:Valentina Tereshkova was, twenty years before the USA.
Russians don't count. :wink:
The US space programme certainly had the "right stuff" and that seemed to include sexism and racism for a surprisingly long period.
Indeed.

Interesting perspectives gents.... Sometimes we mistake all that we can see for all that exists....

In an arena where less than superhuman performance on the part of an individual astronaut may result in loss of life, loss of billions of dollars in capital equipment, loss of years of effort and planning, and huge loss of face (and resultant loss of future funding), I would suspect that nothing more than merit and incredible ability determines which individuals get chosen as astronauts. I would expect the same in selecting Navy SEALS or MotoGP motorcycle racers. No doubt peers have a huge say in who gets to sit in the next seat.

Since NASA is a government funded organization, if you want to make the case of racism/favoritism/nepotism/quotas/etc. decides who gets the janitor jobs, receptionist jobs, PR jobs, or shuttle bus driver jobs at NASA...... that would be an easier sell. I could buy that one.
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