工程师扎伊达·埃尔南德斯
“I would say family and part of that ‘first-gen experience’ [shaped me]. Being born in the U.S. gave me a lot of opportunities that my family and parents were robbed of because of situations in their home country. It shaped me to be a hard worker and to aspire to large things because not only was it my goal at this point, but it was also my parents’ aspiration.
“I feel that a lot of their pride comes from their kids. That pushes me to be a better employee or to want to do better for myself because I know that they’ve made a lot of sacrifices for me while I was building up to becoming an engineer. Now that I’ve accomplished my goal, it’s very important for me to always thank them and be a grateful person.
“Culture also shaped me. Coming from a minority background, and I’m only familiar with the Hispanic culture, it was an education-first mindset…and very supportive. I think that’s important. When I do outreach, I always like to share my experiences because sometimes, people don’t realize how much impact they can have, like the teacher who told me about [a NASA] internship. She didn’t know that was going to be my career. Or, my mom staying up with me during late night study sessions when I was like, ‘I can’t be an engineer’ and failed a test and she was like, ‘No, you can do it. I believe in you.’
“It might not be memorable for the person who [says it], but it was super important for my motivation to keep going. So, [online, I am that voice for] first-gen motivation.”
– Zaida Hernandez, Engineer, Lunar Architecture Team, NASA Johnson Space Center
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Stafford
Interviewer: NASA/Tahira Allen
Lee esta historia en español aquí.
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“我会说，家庭和‘第一代经历’的一部分[塑造了我]。出生在美国给了我很多机会，但我的家人和父母因为本国的情况而被剥夺了这些机会。这塑造了我勤奋工作、志存高远的性格，因为这不仅是我目前的目标，也是我父母的愿望。
“我觉得他们的骄傲很大程度上来自于他们的孩子。这促使我成为一名更好的员工，或者想为自己做得更好，因为我知道，在我成为一名工程师的过程中，他们为我做出了很多牺牲。现在，我已经实现了自己的目标，对我来说，经常感谢他们并做一个懂得感恩的人非常重要。
“文化也塑造了我。我是一个少数族裔，我只熟悉西班牙文化，这是一种教育优先的心态……而且非常支持我。我认为这很重要。在我做外联工作时，我总是喜欢分享我的经历，因为有时候，人们并没有意识到他们能产生多大的影响，就像那位告诉我（NASA）实习机会的老师一样。她不知道这将成为我的职业生涯。或者，当我想‘我不能当工程师’并且考试不及格时，我妈妈在深夜的自习课上一直陪着我，她说，‘不，你能做到。我相信你。’
“对于[说这句话]的人来说，这句话可能并不令人难忘，但对于我坚持下去的动力来说，这句话却超级重要。所以，[在网上，我就是]第一代动力的代言人。”
——扎伊达·埃尔南德斯，NASA约翰逊航天中心月球建筑团队工程师
图片来源:NASA/Bill Stafford
采访者:NASA/Tahira Allen
Lee esta historia en español aquí.
