Many have far-fetched dreams, but few have the sheer tenacity to wait 37 years to achieve theirs. Despite growing up as an impoverished farm worker, astronaut Jose Hernandez carved himself a path to the stars amidst pestering doubts. His story is now the basis for the award-winning movie “A Million Miles Away.”
On Thursday night, he was welcomed to the stage for Harvey Mudd College’s annual Nelson Series to share his recipe for success with 5C students and inspire them to reach for their own stars. The Nelson Series invites three speakers each year to open discourse on global technical issues and their social, economic and political challenges.
This year’s theme is “Doing the Impossible: Journeys across Space and Time”.
Benson Tsai HM ’06, one of the organizers of the event, believes that the theme of space is part and parcel of rejuvenating enthusiasm in outer space within the field of engineering.
“In the late 90s, [enthusiasm about space] kind of tailed off … Given the scientific and engineering nature of students at Harvey Mudd, it’s really helpful to provide channels for them to connect to this industry and show students what’s possible,” Tsai said
Hernandez presented students with the formula that has shaped his trajectory: defining your goal, knowing how far you are from it, creating a roadmap, becoming educated, having a strong work ethic and perseverance.
At age 10, he was inspired to become an astronaut after watching Gene Cernan walk the moon during Apollo. Hernandez recalls being a small child, eyes fixed to his old-school TV screen as the astronaut bounded across the moon’s surface.
“[During the moonwalk], you could see me holding the rabbit ear antennas to improve reception [like it was] osmosis,” Hernandez said.
Standing assuredly in front of a full auditorium, Hernandez recounted the pivotal moments throughout his childhood that helped him achieve his dream. The audience held on to his every word, laughing at jokes and periodically applauding.
As a child of nomadic agricultural workers who moved the family between California and Mexico every few months, Hernandez built a strong sense of adaptability.
“I want you to imagine a five-year-old who doesn’t know [a] zilch of English. I go to school for the first time,” Hernandez said. “I get to know my teacher’s name, where the bathroom’s at, and then two months come and go. I get to meet my second kindergarten teacher … vamanos. As you can see, that’s not a very conducive environment to get a good education, to learn English, much less learn [the teacher’s] materials.”
This constant relocation strengthened Hernandez’s resilience, a skill that shaped the rest of his life. Attendee Ivan Jimenez Pineda HM ’28, left the talk feeling inspired to overcome insecurities about their positionality and embrace their identity and background.
“As a Latino, I shouldn’t feel ashamed and I should be proud of where I am right now. I shouldn’t have my impostor syndrome,” Pineda said.
Throughout his talk, Hernandez repeatedly stressed the decades of setbacks he endured in order to become the astronaut he is today. Over his career, he applied to NASA six times, only to face rejection after rejection. He spent five years researching an X-ray laser that would knock out nuclear missiles, only for the project to be canceled after the Soviet Union crumbled.
After 10 years of relentless work, he was on the verge of giving up on his dream. In fact, he might have, had his wife not stopped him. She found a rejection letter Hernandez tossed in the trash and reminded him that she didn’t marry a quitter.
“She said, ’You’re always going to have that worm of curiosity in you,” Hernandez said. “What if I had applied that seventh time, but [then] I quit?”
After this pep talk, Hernandez developed skills as a pilot and scuba diver, and even worked in nuclear nonproliferation in Russia, all in pursuit of his ultimate goal. Upon his 12th time applying to NASA, he was finally accepted as an astronaut candidate.
Hearing Hernandez’s story of attrition and perseverance, attendee Kaylyn Polanos SC ’26 was left particularly surprised by how hard Hernandez worked to become an astronaut.
“I’ve always thought it was the people in the background that put in the most work. It was very interesting to see how much work he put in,” Polanos said.
This non-linear trajectory is a reminder to students that one’s dreams do not always come in straightforward ways, and that unconventionality can sometimes be beneficial. In fact, after Hernandez’s laser project lost funding, he pivoted and adapted it into the first full-field digital mammography system for early breast cancer detection. Even though he’s explored space, Hernandez considers this the accomplishment that he is most proud of.
Hernandez’s talk was both narratively compelling and inspiring — wide-reaching in its scope, depth and ability to speak to a variety of audiences. When asked if space changed his perspective on anything during the Q&A at the end, he paused for a moment before speaking passionately.
“I had to go out of this world to realize that borders are human-made concepts that are designed to separate us. [When watching the sunrise], you wait for the sun’s rays to hit the Earth in such an angle that you see the thickness of our atmosphere,” Hernandez said. “It’s scary thin. I became an instant environmentalist.”
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