How can you top someone who went to Stanford at the young age of 16, speaks 4 languages (Russian, Japanese, Swahili, and English), not to mention became the first African-American woman to climb aboard a space shuttle and travel to space? Think about it, she was so lucky, the only person out of more than 2000 applicants, that was accepted to NASA’s astronaut training program. Who is this woman you ask? None other than, Dr. Mae C. Jemison.

Imagine a time not having the rights that you have now as a Woman. Not being able to vote when you wanted to, or even serving in the United States Army; because of who you were. However, the fight for rights didn’t stop there, African- American women fought to have equal rights as men, and rights in general. Women have been underestimated forever. One of the first people that made a change was Mae C. Jemison. Going up into space as the first African- American woman had a strong impact on our history. That’s what it’s all about going against the “Norm”, and standing out to be different or in this case, “the first.” In other words, if you are always trying to be normal you will never know how amazing you can be!

If you ask me, it takes a lot of courage to be the first person to ever do something. Especially since many people were probably afraid of taking that extra step and adventuring out like how Mae Jemison did. Besides the familiar tasks, she has accomplished who is she really? She spent a lot of time in school throughout her early years. She graduated in 1977 with the B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.A. in African American Studies. She attended medical school at Cornell University and became an MD in 1981. Even while she was in medical school, she didn’t limit herself to doing just that. She traveled to Cuba, African, and Asia to help sick people. As an all-around student, she was heavily involved in extracurricular activities and served as head of the Black Student Union. However, she found time to expand her horizons by studying in Cuba and Kenya and working at a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand. She has found many organizations to involve herself with. For example, she was a corps medical officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia where she also taught and did medical research. What many people don’t know, is how motivated she is. Her first time applying to NASA’s astronaut training program the Challenger disaster of January 1986, delayed the selection process. If she didn’t have so much motivation and perseverance, she would have missed her chance to become a part of history. A year later, she reapplied and was chosen.

Dr. Jemison has always appreciated her heroes. She would always say that her mother, father, neighbors, and friends taught her something about life. However, the person who motivated her the most would be her mother. She taught her that learning is an ability that you should always use, and never stop learning as long as you have the ability to do so. There is a great blessing in being a grounded person. Aren’t you blessed for the people who raised you? Didn’t they groom you and get you ready for the real world, and aren’t you grateful? Which is why Dr. Jemison was probably appreciative of the people who helped to build her foundation.

f you Knew how unique being on earth is, you wouldn’t waste time neither. Since she was a young girl she looked up at the sky dreaming of what it could be like to be in space. Knowing that no black woman had ever been there, she knew that that’s where she wanted to be. "Don’t limit yourself due to other people's limited imaginations. And don’t limit others due to your limited imagination, (Mae C. Jemison)”. She had a dream to become an Astronaut, and she did just that. Nothing stopped her from accomplishing her goal, and she has been well respecting for having such intuition. How do you make a difference? Well, I would say be distinctive. Since We, as a race are so overlooked and undervalued, when we do something BIG or out of the ordinary, they’ll ever see it coming!