4 Stanford University

Stanford University is a big and famous college in California. Mae Jemison was only 16 years old when she started at Stanford. She had to move far from her home in Chicago to California. It was a difficult and scary experience to move so far away at such a young age, but Mae was also very excited¹.

Mae decided to get her degree in chemical engineering and African-American studies³.

Mae studied hard, but she also participated in many other activities. She continued her passion for dancing. She joined a dance group at Stanford and showed everyone that you can have fun while working hard. She also joined the Black Student Union (BSU). A BSU is a group for Black students. It is a place where they can meet, share ideas, and talk about their culture and history. These groups support Black students and help them feel welcome. A BSU also works to teach others about Black history and fight against unfair treatment. It is a safe and friendly space for learning and connection. Mae was the first woman to be the head (leader) of the group at Stanford. This group was very important for Mae because there were not many other African American students on campus and they often experienced discrimination from their teachers and other students¹.

In addition, she played intermural football and participated in theater at the university in her free time³. She also learned Swahili in college and later also learned Russian, and Japanese⁴.

Mae graduated from Stanford in 1977 and needed to think about what she wanted to do next.

She thought about her plan to become an astronaut. She learned that for the first time NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), wanted people from different backgrounds to be part of the space program. NASA was established in 1958 and in the beginning only accepted white male pilots. But, in 1977 things began to change. They wanted other types of people like women, scientists, and people of diverse cultural backgrounds³.

Going to space was Mae’s dream, but it was not the right time in her life. She didn’t feel prepared and wanted to continue her education. Instead, she decided to apply to study medicine at Cornell University Medical College in New York City³.