It's Well Known That Many Girls Have

I Have A Lot Of Common Sense. I Know What Needs To Be Done And How To Approach It. I Have An Ability To Work With People On Large Enterprises.

I Never Went Into Physics Or The Astronaut Corps To Become A Role Model. But After My First Flight, It Became Clear To Me That I Was One. And I Began To Understand The Importance Of That To People. Young Girls Need To See Role Models In Whatever Careers They May Choose, Just So They Can Picture Themselves Doing Those Jobs Someday. You Can't Be What You Can't See.

The Most Important Steps That I Followed Were Studying Math And Science In School. I Was Always Interested In Physics And Astronomy And Chemistry And I Continued To Study Those Subjects Through High School And College On Into Graduate School. That's What Prepared Me For Being An Astronaut; It Actually Gave Me The Qualifications To Be Selected To Be An Astronaut.

It's No Secret That I've Been Reluctant To Use My Name For Things.

For Whatever Reason, I Didn't Succumb To The Stereotype That Science Wasn't For Girls. I Got Encouragement From My Parents. I Never Ran Into A Teacher Or A Counselor Who Told Me That Science Was For Boys. A Lot Of My Friends Did.