Mae Carol Jemison Essay

Mae Carol Jemison is an extraordinary person, who despite the pain of exclusion, has burned a path through history straight to the stars. Jemison left a mark on history by becoming the first African American woman to enter space. She also inspired many girls to follow their dreams no matter how much they are rejected. Mae Carol Jemison is a African American woman astronaut in the 80’s and 90’s. She shook the world’s point of view on African American women astronauts. Mae got many awards for her work and got an M.D. in 1981. Mae left the astronaut program in 1993 and spent the rest of her life teaching and inspiring many people with her words. Mae Carol Jemison is truly inspirational to our country and to little girls that want to be something

She proved them all wrong.

Mae Carol Jemison was influenced and inspired by her surroundings at a very young age. Jemison lived in a place where there was discrimination against women. Mae C. Jemison was born on October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama, but later moved to Chicago Illinois, when she was 3 years old. Her parents are Charlie and Dorothy Jemison. Her parent made the decision to move to Chicago Illinois because they wanted to get better education for her and her siblings. Mae discovered her love for science in kindergarten, when the teacher asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up “I told her a scientist," Jemison says. "She said, 'Don't you mean a nurse?' Now, there's nothing wrong with being a nurse, but that's not what I wanted to be. Jemison said." For Mae Jemison it was really hard for her to embrace her passion to science because being a young African American girl meant she was

Mae inspired many people to follow their dreams, but she also had many people inspire her to follow her dreams. Mae said that her mother taught her the importance of lifelong learning and intellectual challenges. Her friend, Linus Pauling showed her the importance of exploration and discovery. Mae also inspired many African Americans to follow their dreams. Mae quoted “What we find is that if you have a goal that is very, very far out, and you approach in in little steps, you start to get there faster. Your mind opens up to the possibilities.” Mae changed many people's expectations about African American woman. She helped NASA realize that skin or sex doesn't matter. The expectations most white people had about African Americans at that time changed when Mae became an astronaut and went into space. She knew that being black would mean if she succeeded she would become very famous. Mae met up with a principal of an elementary school and was shocked to hear that he planned to have a male teacher teach the children about the opportunities in the Space Camp, because he thought that men always had more knowledge on that subject. When Mae entered space as the first African American woman, she truly made the astronaut program much more well known. Mae was interviewed by many news stations and was put on TV many times. Another way she made the Space Program more well known is when Mae’s friend that insisted she be on Star Trek with him.