The Life And Accomplishments Of Mae Jemison

There are lots of astonishing, significant figures for mathematics and science when you look back in history. However, during my research, Mae Jemison stood out. Jemison is widely known throughout the world as the first African-American woman to go up into space. This was a major accomplishment, and it changed the course of history.

She ultimately ended up inspiring young children, as well adults, to follow passions and to not feel limited because of obstacles.

Even though she was an astronaut, she had many other major accomplishments throughout her lifetime. She graduated from high school at just 16 years old, and fought many odds that were set up against her. Throughout her career, Jemison has spoken many times about discrimination she faced

Following her graduation, she moved to Cornell Medical School- obtaining her Doctorate in Medicine. After her graduation, she did several things before applying to NASA- she became an intern for Los Angeles County Medical Center, practiced general medicine, and then joined the Peace Corps, serving as a medical officer in Africa. When inspirational Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, Jemison quickly decided to apply for the astronaut program at NASA. However, shortly after her application, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded- therefore, resulting in NASA taking a break from hiring. However, Jemsion decided to apply again a couple years later, and ended up becoming accepted. She practiced with NASA on projects and training for preparation of going up to space. While Jemsion was bright and obtained many incredible, well earned opportunities throughout her lifetime, she still faced many struggles. Along with being a woman astronaut, she was also African-American. She experienced her fair share of discrimination and challenges while pursuing her lifelong dream of being an astronaut. While some of her professors and teachers encouraged her to pursue her dreams, others failed to do

Jemison recalls telling her teachers about her desire to work in the science field- however her teacher replied that she should pursue a nursing career instead. Along with bias against women, African Americans also were facing challenges in the field of STEM. Classmates and teachers would disregard talent shown, focusing instead on their white peers. Throughout all these struggles and obstacles Jemison struggled through, she stayed strong and continued to follow her passion in STEM and working as an astronaut with NASA. Jemison can definitely be seen as a hero, and an important, inspirational figure for African-Americans and girls all around the world. She proved that she could break the boundaries of what society had labeled “acceptable”. When she was launched into space, it made a huge difference for the future of African-Americans and women in STEM, at NASA, or in an astronaut program. Jemison made a major contribution to STEM- she conducted several experiments related to life sciences/material sciences while she was on her shuttle mission. Along with those very significant experiments, she also held the role in a bone cell research project. Her interests were both a mixture of science and