Carson High School welcomed special guest Jose Hernandez who traveled here to share his inspiring journey of becoming a NASA astronaut. Some people may have heard of him by watching the movie based on his true-life story growing up called "A Million Miles Away".
Jose Hernandez is known for growing up as a young migrant farm worker to pursuing a lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut. And kids, parents, and staff are all saying he has really become a motivation for them.
Alex Azaragoza, a CHS student, says, "It really meant a lot because I kind of have the same aspirations as Jose Hernandez."
"I was very excited about it. I felt like a kid," adds Melany Galvan, another student.
Jose Hernandez was just 10 years old when he watched the last mission of Apollo 17 live on TV, and that was the moment he told his father he was going to be an astronaut. His father then gave him a five-ingredient recipe that helped Hernandez reach his success.
Jose M. Hernandez says, "This man only had a third-grade education but had the wisdom to say, 'determine your purpose in life, recognize how far you are, draw yourself a road map so you know how to get there, prepare yourself according to the challenge, and develop the work ethic second to none'."
Throughout his presentation, he used his life lessons to help inspire families and motivate young kids to pursue their desired STEM careers.
Claudia Lopez, a mom who brought her young daughter to meet Jose, says, "The motivation that we as parents give our kids has to do a lot with it."
Mariana Saravia, a CHS student, says, "I want to be in the medical field too. I want to be a pediatrician because I really like it."
A lot of students loved how much they could relate to parts of his story and be a strong role model for the Hispanic community.
Kevin Tapia-Dominguez, a CHS student, says, "It's just nice to see someone of that same heritage, that same culture being able to do something so grand like going to space."
Abigail Pulido, another student, adds, "It's really inspiring for the Hispanic community knowing where he comes from and everything that he went through and how hard he worked for it."
One of Hernandez's biggest pieces of advice for families is not to let fear of finances get in the way of your education. He explains, "If you set an environment at home that's very positive, conducive for them to get a good education, the rest takes care of itself. They get good grades which means scholarships, which means financial aid, student loans, work-study, where there's a will there's a way."
All this happened because Spanish teacher Jennifer Chandler watched his movie with her students and then assigned her students to write letters to Hernandez as their final exam last spring.
And now tonight students are saying they'll be going home with a better idea of how to achieve their dreams.
