Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an American physician and NASA astronaut. She became the first African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992.
Early years
Mae Carol Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama, the youngest child of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy Green. Her father was a maintenance supervisor for a charity organization, and her mother worked most of her career as an elementary school teacher of English and math at the Beethoven School in Chicago.[1][2] The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, when Jemison was three years old, to take advantage of better educational opportunities there. Jemison says that as a young girl growing up in Chicago she always assumed she would get into space. "I thought, by now, we'd be going into space like you were going to work."[3] She said it was easier to apply to be a shuttle astronaut, "rather than waiting around in a cornfield, waiting for ET to pick me up or something."[3]
As a child growing up, Jemison learned to make connections to science by studying nature. "It sounds a little gross, but I was fascinated with pus," Jemison said. Once when a splinter infected her thumb as a little girl, Jemison's mother turned it into a learning experience. She ended up doing a whole project about pus.[4] Jemison wouldn't let anyone dissuade her from pursuing a career in science. "In kindergarten, my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and 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."[5]
Jemison says she was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. but to her King's dream wasn't an elusive fantasy but a call to action. "Too often people paint him like Santa -- smiley and inoffensive," says Jemison. "But when I think of Martin Luther King, I think of attitude, audacity, and bravery."[6] Jemison thinks the civil rights movement was all about breaking down the barriers to human potential. "The best way to make dreams come true is to wake up," says Jemison.[6]
Jemison loved science growing up but she also loved the arts.[7] Jemison began dancing at the age of nine.[8] "I love dancing! I took all kinds of dance — African dancing, ballet, jazz, modern — even Japanese dancing. I wanted to become a professional dancer," said Jemison.[9]During high school she auditioned for the leading role of "Maria" in West Side Story.[7] She didn't get the part but Jemison's dancing skills did get her into the line up as a background dancer.[7] "I had a problem with the singing but I danced and acted pretty well enough for them to choose me. I think that people sometimes limit themselves and so rob themselves of the opportunity to realise their dreams. For me, I love the sciences and I also love the arts," says Jemison.[7] "I saw the theatre as an outlet for this passion and so I decided to pursue this dream."[7] Later during her senior year in college, she was trying to decide whether to go to New York to medical school or become a professional dancer. Her mother told her, "You can always dance if you're a doctor, but you can't doctor if you're a dancer."[10]
Jemison graduated from Chicago's Morgan Park High School in 1973[5] and entered Stanford University at age 16.[4] "I was naive and stubborn enough that it didn’t faze me," Jemison said.[4] "It’s not until recently that I realized that 16 was particularly young or that there were even any issues associated with my parents having enough confidence in me to [allow me to] go that far away from home."[4] Jemison graduated from Stanford in 1977, receiving a B.S. in chemical engineering and fulfilling the requirements for a B.A. in African and Afro-American Studies.[4] Jemison said that majoring in engineering as a black woman was difficult because race is always an issue in the United States.[11] "Some professors would just pretend I wasn't there. I would ask a question and a professor would act as if it was just so dumb, the dumbest question he had ever heard. Then, when a white guy would ask the same question, the professor would say, "That's a very astute observation.'"[11] In an interview with the Des Moines Register in 2008 Jemison said that it was difficult to go to Stanford at 16, but thinks her youthful arrogance may have helped her.[12] "I did have to say, 'I'm going to do this and I don't give a damn.'" She points out the unfairness of the necessity for women and minorities to have that attitude in some fields.[12]
Jemison obtained her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1981 from Cornell Medical College (now Weill Medical College of Cornell University) She interned at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and later worked as a general practitioner. During medical school Jemison traveled to Cuba, Kenya and Thailand, to provide primary medical care to people living there.[13] During her years at Cornell Medical College, Jemison took lessons in modern dance at the Alvin Ailey school.[8] Jemison later built a dance studio in her home and has choreographed and produced several shows of modern jazz and African dance.[1][10]
[edit]Peace Corps
After completing her medical , Jemison joined the staff of the Peace Corps and served as a Peace Corps Medical Officer from 1983 to 1985 responsible for the health of Peace Corps Volunteers serving in Liberia and Sierra Leone.[10] Jemison's work in the Peace Corps included supervising the pharmacy, laboratory, medical staff as well as providing medical care, writing self-care manuals, and developing and implementing guidelines for health and safety issues. Jemison also worked with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) helping with research for various vaccines.[13]
Once while serving as a doctor for the Peace Corps, a volunteer got sick and another doctor was diagnosed with malaria. The volunteer got progressively worse and Jemison was sure it was meningitis with life-threatening complications that could not be treated in Sierra Leone. Jemison called for an Air Force hospital plane based in Germany for a military medical evacuation at a cost of $80,000.[10] The embassy questioned whether Jemison had the authority to give such an order but she told them she didn't need anyone's permission for a medical decision. By the time the plane reached Germany with Jemison and the volunteer on board, she had been up with the patient for 56 hours. The patient survived.[10]
While working in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, Jemison found a feline companion who would share her life for the next 15 years – a cat named "Sneeze and Fleas."[14] "He was white with touches of silver and gray, and used to sit at the table with me. When I first got him he was eating the local foods, which were spicy sauces and stews over rice," Jemison said.[14] "When I started working on the space mission, he lived with my parents in Chicago and was the one thing I really couldn't wait to return to. When I think of home and what it means to me, I always think of Sneeze."[14]
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