José Hernández, a NASA astronaut and Stockton native, is the subject of “A Million Miles Away,” a Netflix movie scheduled to be released in 2022. He recently joined Casa de Español for a conversation about his life and upcoming film.
José, the son of Mexican farmworkers, grew up picking fruits and vegetables in California fields. His family spent years, following the harvest season, traveling between Mexico, Southern and Northern California. Hernández and his siblings were constantly moving to different schools.
When José was in second grade, his teacher requested a visit with the family. During her visit, she convinced José’s parents to settle down in one place and keep the kids in the same school district, year-round.
“That year, we went to Mexico but on our way back, we did not stop in Southern California, we did not stop in Central California, we drove all the way to Stockton, California,” José explained.
“No dream is ever too big if you are willing to work hard”
Jose (in the hat) with his sister, Leticia, and brother, Gilberto. (Image cnn.com)
He went on to graduate from Franklin High School and then headed to University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering and was awarded a full scholarship to the graduate program at the University of California in Santa Barbara.
“The mere fact that I wanted to be an astronaut, motivated me to graduate high school, to go to college, become an engineer, to go to graduate school,” said José, who at the age of ten, realized he wanted to be an astronaut. His father, not only encouraged him to follow his dream but also gave him a five-ingredient recipe for achieving his dream.
His father’s recipe:
1) Define what you want to be in life.
2) Recognize how far you are from that goal.
3) Draw a roadmap from where you are to where you want to go.
4) Stay in school and go to college.
5) Put all your effort into it.
José would later add ‘perseverance’ as a sixth ingredient to his father’s recipe.
In 2004, after being rejected eleven times, he was selected as part of the 19th class of NASA astronauts. Five years later, he was a mission specialist on board Space Shuttle Discovery. The STS-128 mission crew spent almost two weeks in space. José had finally made his dream a reality!
“No dream is ever too big if you are willing to work hard,” he added.
When asked about what his biggest pride is, José said, “It’s all five of my kids because they’ve pushed themselves.”
José’s story has come full circle. After coming back from space and retiring from NASA, he’s back in northern California where he owns a vineyard called Tierra Luna Cellars. This will be the first year that his wine will be produced and bottled.
“I grew up in the fields and now I’m back in the fields,” said José.
Watch the interview with José Hernandez. Hosted by Wendy Aguilar.
Learn more about José’s foundation, Reaching for the Stars
https://astrojh.org/
