From Migrant Worker to Space Explorer

We often hear that education is the key to a bright future, and never has that been more apparent than in the case of astronaut Jose Hernandez.

Early Tuesday morning, the former migrant worker who did not learn English until age 12, will blast off into space aboard the shuttle Discovery as a NASA astronaut. His story is inspiring the Hispanic community, especially farm worker families who have struggled for generations.

"When we see an example like Jose, we are so happy," Matthew Sheaff, a spokesman for the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs in Washington, told the Associated Press. "It's an example that anybody can break the cycle of poverty that they live in."

Hernandez rose above his circumstances the old-fashioned way: he worked really hard. It also didn’t hurt that he had two parents who were exceptionally focused on making sure he and his three siblings received an education, while also working in the fields. Although his parents only went as far as the third-grade, all four of their children graduated high school and college. On Tuesday, they will be there to watch him blast off into space and achieve a dream he’s held since childhood.

“Now being an astronaut, to them that's just unbelievable," Hernandez said of his parents. "I think they're higher in orbit than we're going to be in."

To help other disadvantaged kids reach their dreams, Hernandez, now a father of five, formed Reaching for the Stars, a foundation in his hometown of Stockton, Calif. to help kids succeed in math, science, engineering and technology.

Hernandez has been reaching for the stars all his life — he was selected as an astronaut in 2004 after 12 years of trying — and this week he will really, truly reach them.

Photo courtesy of NASA/KSC via Wikimedia Commons