By Al Benson
“Now it’s my turn!”
That is what former Mexican-American farm worker said when he was selected as a NASA astronaut.
In a Tuesday, Oct. 15, speech entitled “Reaching New Heights,” Hernandez chronicled his transformation from farm hand to astronaut. He started Aurora University’s 18th annual fall Celebrating Arts and Ideas series before a capacity crowd in Crimi Auditorium.
Retired from NASA, Hernández, of Stockton, Calif., runs Tierra Luna, an aerospace consulting firm he co-founded. After NASA rejected 11 applications from Hernandez, he got to fly into space at 47, spending 14 days as the engineer on the International Space Station.
He said, “It’s okay to dream big – if you’re willing to put in the hard work and effort to convert that dream into reality.” That’s the message he hopes viewers take away from A Million Miles Away, his own life story dramatized as an inspiring, old-school tale of determination. The family-friendly biopic from director Alejandra Márquez Abella and producer Mark Ciardi (Invincible, Miracle) is streaming now on Prime Video worldwide.
In motivational talks he gives, he tells students to aim high –- and to love the path getting there.
“So the goal is: Don’t be obsessed in such a way that you won’t enjoy the journey,” he said. “Perhaps you won’t make it up there. But make sure you enjoy what happens along the way, because that’s 80 or 90% of your time.”
The series will continue with “An Evening of Song Featuring Marques Jerrell Ruff,” a renown bass vocalist and conductor, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, “he Emotional Toll of Being the First,” by Alejandra Campoverdi, a women’s health advocate, best-selling author and former White House aide to president Barack Obama, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20; and “Black Hole Blues” by Janna Levin, author, cosmologist and Guggenheim Fellow, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
The public is invited. Admission and parking are free but reservations are required. Call (630) 844-4924 or visit auartsandideas.com. Programs are held in Crimi Auditorium at the Institute for Collaboration, 1347 Prairie Street in Aurora.