As an aboriginal journalist covering aboriginal issues on a daily basis, I meet and interview many people within the community.
Sometimes, this job can get stale, covering the same issues over and over again. So, it’s such a treat when I’m given an assignment where I get to meet a person whose story is truly awe-inspiring.
Last month, I got to shake hands with Commander John Herrington, the first aboriginal astronaut to go into space. A member of the Chickasaw tribe in Oklahoma, Herrington was a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour for 13 days in November 2002.
Now, I don’t know about other folks out there, but when I was a little girl, I wanted to be an astronaut. Even back then, I had this compelling urge to explore. And my love of science-fiction shows and movies only fed those childhood ambitions.
At every opportunity, I would steal a few moments in the evening to gaze into the starry sky, to dream and wonder about space and everything in it.
Watching the Space Shuttle Columbia lift off for the first time on television was a big event in my household. I was 12 years old at the time. And I faithfully watched the nightly news during its mission, looking for updates on Columbia’s maiden voyage into space.
My sense of wonder and curiosity about space prompted me to take a keen interest in sciences classes such as biology, chemistry and physics in high school.
But somewhere along the way, my interest in writing and story-telling steered me into journalism instead.
Mind you, I have to admit that while I was OK at studying the sciences, I knew before I graduated from high school that I felt more comfortable with being a writer rather than a scientist.
Well, to be totally honest, math wasn’t my best subject. I still get nightmares thinking about pre-calculus.
So you see, meeting Commander Herrington last month was a big thing for me.
Now, I’m not the type to get awestruck over anyone I interview for my day job. But shaking hands with an astronaut was so cool, especially the first aboriginal astronaut to go into space.
Commander Herrington spoke at the opening of the annual conference of the Canadian Aboriginal Science and Technology Society in Sydney.
Naturally, he talked about how he became an astronaut.
He confessed that he didn’t do well in his first year of university, and was forced to take a year off to figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
It was while he worked in a restaurant and as a rock climber that year that he decided he wanted to become a pilot.
He returned to university, where he earned a science degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. After serving in the U.S. Navy as a pilot for over 10 years, he was selected by NASA to be an astronaut in 1996.
He talked a great deal about his trip into space.
But throughout his speech, he also talked about the people in his life who encouraged and steered him toward pursuing his dreams: people like his family, his tribe, and that co-worker who encouraged him to return to school.
And he acknowledged all of those people by taking an eagle feather with him aboard his first flight into space.
He came to the conference not just to share his story of becoming an astronaut, but to encourage others to pursue their own individual dreams and to emphasize the important role that mentors play in people’s lives.
On the drive back home the following day, I couldn’t help but think about Herrington’s presentation.
I reflected on the people in my life who encouraged and helped me pursue my dreams. From my mother who insisted I read the newspaper every day when I was a teenager so I would know about current events in the world, to my father who bought me a 35-mm camera for my high school graduation when I landed a summer job as a reporter with the Micmac News.
Like Herrington, I have my own eagle feathers. Both of them hang from my framed degrees in my parents’ home.
But every now and then, I find myself gazing into the starry night sky. And it’s like I’m a little girl again. I still wonder what it’s like to see the stars from space.
But now I can say that I met someone who described first-hand to me what it’s like to see everything from space.
Maureen Googoo is a Mi’kmaq journalist living and working in Halifax.
