2007.03.04: March 4, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Sierra Leone: Staff: Science: Space: Metrowest Daily News: Mae Jemison speaks at Wellesley College
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Mae Jemison speaks at Wellesley College
Jemison worked as a doctor and spent time in the Peace Corps as a medical officer in Africa. She has also been a college professor and started her own companies. She said people often assume that she considers the space mission her proudest achievement, but she jokingly downplayed that trip. "Basically, you just sit on top of a rocket, and someone else pushes a button," Jemison said. Jemison, who now lives in Houston, described her experience as a doctor, scientist, astronaut, entrepreneur, teacher and one-time aspiring dancer. To succeed, she said, the students have to sidestep mental obstacles and not conform to other people's expectations. "When I talk about optimism, that young girl is the most important, cherished part of me," she said. "She's my hero."
Mae Jemison speaks at Wellesley College
Former female astronaut inspires students
By Jennifer Kavanaugh/Daily News Staff
Sunday, March 04, 2007 - Updated: 12:07 AM EST
WELLESLEY - Dr. Mae C. Jemison can remember looking up to the stars as a child and deciding that one day she would go into space, even as the National Guard patrolled her South Side Chicago neighborhood to quell urban unrest in the late 1960s.
The day came on Sept. 12, 1992, when Jemison rode aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor and became the first black woman to go into space. But back in 1968, none of the astronauts looked like her, and the times were turbulent, but she still dreamed.
"I always assumed I would go into outer space," Jemison, now 50, told students at Wellesley College yesterday. She spoke as part of the Hippocratic Society's second annual Celebration of Women in Medicine and Public Health.
Jemison, who now lives in Houston, described her experience as a doctor, scientist, astronaut, entrepreneur, teacher and one-time aspiring dancer. To succeed, she said, the students have to sidestep mental obstacles and not conform to other people's expectations.
"When I talk about optimism, that young girl is the most important, cherished part of me," she said. "She's my hero."
Jemison spent six years in NASA, and during her 1992 trip to space, she conducted life-sciences experiments and conducted bone cell research. Her rise through academia and the work world was as dramatic as a flight into space. She went to Stanford University at age 16 with a scholarship, graduating with a degree in chemical engineering and then getting her doctorate in medicine at Cornell University.
After school, Jemison worked as a doctor and spent time in the Peace Corps as a medical officer in Africa. She has also been a college professor and started her own companies. She said people often assume that she considers the space mission her proudest achievement, but she jokingly downplayed that trip.
"Basically, you just sit on top of a rocket, and someone else pushes a button," Jemison said.
More than a decade after Jemison left NASA, the agency faces scrutiny after the recent arrest of one of its astronauts, Lisa Marie Nowak, who is accused of trying to kidnap a woman she considered a romantic rival for another astronaut's affections. The story gained even more notoriety because Nowak allegedly wore adult diapers to avoid having to stop during her nearly 1,000 mile trip to Florida, where the alleged incident occurred.
"I'm not talking about diapers," Jemison said yesterday. But when asked whether NASA should screen astronauts more rigorously, she said, "I don't know anybody who screens as much as NASA."
Many students came for an inspirational pep talk, but Jemison said she draws energy from talking to the young women. In return, she urged them to put their energy to use. She brought a clock with her to the talk, she said, and told the students to make the most of the 86,400 seconds each day contains.
"Each one of those seconds is extremely precious," she said. "It's what we do with our time, and the choices that we make, that give it its unlimited potential."
(Jennifer Kavanaugh can be reached at 508-626-4416 or at jkavanau@cnc.com.)
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Headlines: March, 2007; Staff Member Mae Jemison; Figures; Peace Corps Sierra Leone; Directory of Sierra Leone RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Sierra Leone RPCVs; Staff; Science; Space
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Story Source: Metrowest Daily News
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