Ellen Ochoa: To space and beyond

Ellen Ochoa pushes the boundaries in her field as the first Hispanic female astronaut and director of NASA's Johnson Space Center. She shares her story through presentations and is a leader in STEM education and advocacy. In this episode, we discuss how Ellen’s story inspires us to reach for the stars and help the next generation grow to their fullest potential.

Transcript

Introduction: Welcome to humanizing tech. We interview people to dig below the surface of their achievements and challenges showcasing the story behind the story. We believe that focusing on the person and humanizing their lived experiences will help us shape the future of tech. Humanizing tech is brought to you by Kiva. Kivas is an international nonprofit working to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. 100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes to funding loans by lending as little as $25, you can be part of the solution. You make a real difference in someone's life. More than 80% of the borrowers Kiva serves around the world are women learn more@kiva.org. 

Ochuko Akpovbovbo: Welcome to our first segment to kick off this season. My name is Ochuko Akpovbovbo.

Anusha Neeelam: My name is Anusha Neelam. I'm so excited for our first segment. She/her for me

Ochuko: she/her pronouns for me as well. 

Anusha: We are so excited to kick off this new series. Humanizing tech innovators. These short segments will be sprinkled in throughout the season between interview episodes. The purpose of innovators is to highlight individuals from the past who have changed the world through technological innovations and to highlight young people today who are shaping the future of tech for all of us.

Today, we are highlighting Ellen Ochoa who was born in 1958 and grew up in San Diego, California. She was one of five siblings raised by a single mother as a high achiever in high school and college. She went on to earn her master's and PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford in 1985, though she had also contemplated a career in journalism.

Ochuko: I'm like, wow, I feel like an underachievement, but I guess that's why we're talking about her.

Anusha: Exactly. She creates a large deal of her interest in learning to her mother because when Ellen was a year old, her mother started college. And even though she had five children to take care of, she took one class a semester in order to earn her degree. And this is something, you know, I heard her talk about in her Ted talk, she talks about how her mother not only wanted to get her degree and continu her learning, but she believed in being a lifelong learner and being in a classroom and being able to interact with other students. And you know, that just really was something that was really important to her. And it was important for her to teach her children that you know, you're gonna be learning or you should always be looking to learn and gain insight. And just in all of this stuff throughout your entire life. And that was something that Ellen always credits as something that was important to her to watch her mother teach them this and to go through this process was just very influential on her life.

Ochuko: Yeah, I think like also that's really powerful and you know, this was a while ago and right now it's so easy to keep being like a learner, right. Like with the internet, with social media and all of that stuff. And I think we're in a time in society right now where we're having to unlearn and relearn so many things. And I think having that as a habit, you know, not only with academic stuff, but also with how we think about ourselves, how we think about society is really so powerful, you know, not just for individual growth, but also like the growth of our communities. 

We love that. 

Anusha: Yeah, absolutely. 

Ochuko: Yeah, so Ochoa was hired by NASA in 1988 and started astronaut training in 1990. That's included rigorous courses in astronomy, geology, oceanography, meteorology, and survival techniques, not to mention all the other physical endurance testing that you have to go through to be an astronaut.

She was expected to know every part of the shuttle and each part's function. I thought this was pretty badass. It's really interesting because you know, all of this stuff like survival techniques and fiscal endurance are really attribute it to be like, you know, male things like, you know, you're strong and whatever, but I think apart from being smart, you can see this other side of her, really tenacious, really going against the grain. And, you know, this was like a while ago before I was born. And so, you know, we're still really struggling right now with gender roles. And so I can imagine what it must've been at that time. And so I think what makes her really cool, is not just the fact that she was really intelligent, but also that she was able to go against the grain in so many of these things and just go for what she wanted and just like be that person. So we love her for that.

Anusha: For sure. And I think that a while ago I was for some reason interested in what it took for astronauts to, you know, become astronauts aside from having that knowledge and the intensity of those physical trainings and testings are... it's really crazy. They, test you in every angle possible to make sure that you're not cracking under, under pressure, under stress. And that makes sense obviously for the job, but it really is something that I feel like just takes a lot of dedication to be able to, to get to.

Ochuko: Yeah, I completely agree. And I think, you know, drawing a parallel to where we are right now with self isolation and do you know, people being at home and away from society. I remember reading this article of, you know, an astronaut talking about how they would deal with it. And I think, you know, it's like, Oh my God, that's such a cool thing to do, but when you're in this situation, you're like, wow, you have to be not only really like intellectually intelligent or physically strong, but you have to be really mentally strong as well. You know, and yeah, I think this period really gives us a new appreciation for kind of like what they went through and all the things we're able to achieve. So good on her for doing that. 

She became the first Hispanic female astronaut. She was a crew member mission specialist and a flight engineer on shuttle missions in 1993, 1994 and 1999 and 2002.

Anusha: Phew, that’s a lot of missions. Today Ochoa is the first Hispanic director of the Johnson space center in Houston. She flies her own single engine plane for recreation and is also a classical flutist. Fun fact, she actually took her flute into space and used to play it during her downtime, which is super rad. She's delivered more than 150 talks, encouraging young women to consider a career in science. And she's incredibly passionate about STEM education and advocacy. In 2017, Ochoa was inducted into the astronaut hall of fame. Very well deserved of course. Huge, thanks to Elena Ochoa for paving the way, not only for women who want to become astronauts, but also for women in the STEM field who are looking to continue climbing up the ladder and have huge ambitions. I think that she's an incredible role model.

Ochuko: Yeah. I totally agree with that. And I think, you know, knowing that she came from such a normal background as well, you know, like, you know, she wasn't super rich or, you know, white or anything. She was kind of like us, right. Except, you know, I bet with her mother instilling that knowledge or that like desire for knowledge and her, she, you know, must've really got into that and that really affected the way she, you know, pursued her career and her outlook on life. But I think it just says a lot about our own potential as individuals. 

And I think those are the best, you know, heroes, you know, the ones who you can relate to and you'd be like, Oh, like, if she can do this, I can do it too. And so we're really grateful, you know, that she did something cool. And I think I try to remind myself that, do something cool, you know, take that step, you know, do that different thing. And maybe one day they will talk about you, too.

Anusha: So yeah, exactly. I think it's very important to note that the point about her being a lifelong learner, you can see how even in her life today obviously she's done these incredible things and gone to space and was this incredible scientist. But, today, she spends her interest into advocacy work and she does talks and really delves into different components of her expertise and continues to grow and learn. And I think it's very evident that that early lesson really stuck with her. So I think there's a lot to learn from that.

Ochuko: Yeah. And also the fact that she gives back and she tells her story. I think we can learn so much from that and you don't have to go to a space to do that. You know, it can be as like, you know, getting into college when you're the first person in your family to do so, or first person in your community, it can be being the first person and your community and family, who's a woman in tech. It can be making that transition. 

I think like sometimes we really underestimate ourselves, you know, we have so much knowledge to give so much to pour out. And I think that's something that's really amazing about her. She didn't need to tell all of us all these cool things, but she does, you know, and I think that's one of the reasons why she's, we're talking about her right now. And so I think, you know, if we, I think we all have some sort of level of privilege, you know, in some way or the other or something that we've achieved that someone else hasn't. And so being able and willing to share, to give back, you know, to help other women I think is really powerful. And I'm glad that we have other people to look to who show us the way, you know.

Anusha: Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that's what the segment is really about is being able to talk about women. And people that were, that are minorities that have achieved these things that they were either the first to do within their communities or in general, but also being able to learn from that and taking, lessons from what they've been able to do. And it wouldn't be possible if they, not only didn't pave the way, but also didn't share their story. And I think that's, that's one of the goals here is for us to be able to talk, talk through these experiences and see what we can gain from that. So this is definitely someone who's done some really incredible work who's willing to share what she's done to to grow and to be able to get there. 

Ochuko: Thank you everyone for joining us on this journey, this new segment, the first episode of this new segment, sort of something new. And I hope you enjoyed this as much as we enjoyed recording this. And we will be back with you for episode two. 

Anusha: Thanks for joining us, everybody

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