Jose Hernandez, a former NASA astronaut, will speak at Allan Hancock College on Tuesday, March 28, as part of the college’s Launching the Next Generation event. The presentation is also sponsored by the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District’s Multilingual and Migrant Education Programs.
According to a Hancock press release, the event aims to inspire students’ interest in pursuing STEM careers, or those in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Launching the Next Generation caters especially to groups that are currently underrepresented in STEM fields, the release said.
“We believe every student is a mathematician, a scientist, an engineer, and even an astronaut,” Maria Larios Horton, director of Multilingual and Migrant Education Programs with the high school district, said in the release. “Events like this help to inspire and reveal for students their own potential.”
Originally from Mexico, Hernandez was born into a migrant farming family and learned to speak English at age 12. He went on to major in electrical engineering at the University of the Pacific and earn a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from UC Santa Barbara.
He joined the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in 2001, and NASA selected him for astronaut candidate training three years later. In 2006, he completed his training and by 2009 worked as a crewmember for NASA’s 128th shuttle mission.
“Our students and visitors should leave the event believing the sky, or in this case, the universe, is the limit,” Larios-Horton said in the release. “Anything is possible, even if English is not a person’s first language.”
Hernandez’s speaking event, slated for 12:30 p.m. in the Joe White Memorial Gym at Hancock’s Santa Maria campus, is free and open to the public. Parking will also be free, and attendees are asked to be seated by 12:15 p.m.
