I was 17 when I chose my career.
I was standing outside
on a hot summer night in Florida
and just a few miles from the ocean.
I was waiting for a miracle to happen.
That summer, I was privileged
to work as an intern
at NASA's Kennedy Space Center,
and the miracle I was waiting for
was the launch
of the Columbia Space Shuttle
carrying the Chandra X-Ray Observatory,
a telescope that would allow scientists
to peer into the edge of black holes.
The entire sky filled with light.
And it was as if it was daytime
in the middle of the night.
Soon, we could feel the rumble
of the engines vibrating in our chests.
And it wasn't a miracle;
it was the combined effort
of a team of thousands of people
who worked together
to make was seemed impossible a reality.
And I wanted to join that team.
So I decided to apply to a university
where I could study aerospace engineering.
And the following year,