Sally K. Ride

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Sally Ride demonstrated such brave characteristics throughout her adventurous life. In 1978, Sally had applied for and started training for NASA's astronaut position. "A year of intensive preparation followed. The new astronaut's curriculum included parachute jumping, water survival, gravity and weightlessness training, radio communications, navigation and flight instruction" ("Sally K. Ride, Ph.D" Academy of Achievement). Sally Ride went through the harsh, uncomfortable training which demonstrated her bravery for fighting for what she wanted. Especially in a time where women were thought of less highly than men, she had gone through what most could not have thought of a woman going through. It seemed to be that everybody believed she had amazing capabilities and could be trusted and depended on for highly important tasks. Sally had been the "...only person to serve on both panels investigating the nation's space shuttle disasters-the Challenger explosion in 1986 and the breakup of the shuttle Columbia on reentry in 2003" (Sally Ride Science). She made heroic choices and believed in taking risks to live life to the fullest. People saw she was a person who would be ready to face and endure danger or any adventure. Sally has left a legacy that inspires women to not be afraid to go after what they want.

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Ever since Sally was a young girl, she had found a love for science and being outside playing tennis. These things were aspects of her life that she knew she strived to be doing as a career. After her few years of space travel, she continued to share her knowledge of physics with college students at UC San Diego. "Sally used her high profile to champion a cause she cared about passionately-igniting students' enthusiasm for science and piquing their interest in careers in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math]" (Sally Ride Science). She had consistently given to others. It is extremely special for she had found a love within science and  hoped to share it with everybody. Sally wouldn't have been so successful as she was without her drive and passion to learn and discover. She specifically studied that girls started to find science and math very interesting at a younger age, and as girls grew into teenagers, they seemed to have lost interest. In order to keep children engaged with science, she wrote"...science books for children [that] include[,] To Space and Back, Voyager, The Third Planet, The Mystery of Mars, and Mission Planet Earth. Ride made it her personal mission to encourage young people to be interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics" ("Sally Ride"Encyclopedia of World Biography). From one project to another, she continued to find new things to learn and new areas to impact. The passion and love she showed to everybody brought her to such high levels of success. She worked hard to try and keep others, specifically young girls, to be intrigued by the study of science for the years to come. It's inspiring for a successful person want to share her devotion and passion with the rest of the world.

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Sally Ride is an inspiration to women and girls for her passionate mindset and grand acts of bravery throughout her lifetime. Sally had once said, "I've been a bit of a risk-taker all my life." As an astronaut in 1978, a college professor in 1989, and creating an association for kids to explore the wonders of science in 2003, Sally was granted the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013; a year after her death from pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012 (age 61). Sally was always a giver and left a positive impact everywhere she went. As a girl myself, I look up to her for she had proved to the world that women can do things that men can, and it all can be done with just a positive attitude, controlled mind set, and a drive for happiness. As America's first woman astronaut, Sally Ride always wished for others to aim for the stars and not let any obstacles get in their way.