1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,840 (music) 2 00:00:01,850 --> 00:00:07,350 (Jackie:) There was a scene at the very end, where there's two arm wrestlers struggling 3 00:00:07,350 --> 00:00:12,690 with everything they have. The camera focuses in on his face, 4 00:00:12,690 --> 00:00:16,619 and as he was sitting there, in slow motion struggling with everything he had, 5 00:00:16,619 --> 00:00:23,099 I had the epiphany that I had never worked that hard, even for a moment. And I 6 00:00:23,099 --> 00:00:27,060 decided right then and there that I was going to go back to college, I was going 7 00:00:27,060 --> 00:00:30,239 to pick the hardest major that I had enjoyed, and I was going to give it 8 00:00:30,239 --> 00:00:42,989 everything I had. A traditional definition of what an instrument manager 9 00:00:42,989 --> 00:00:47,850 does is to make sure that the instrument does what it says it's going to do. So we 10 00:00:47,850 --> 00:00:51,870 meet our technical requirements. That it's delivered on schedule and 11 00:00:51,870 --> 00:00:56,309 within costs. And I think the most powerful tool in an engineer's toolbox is the 12 00:00:56,309 --> 00:01:00,409 ability to break really complex problems down into smaller and smaller pieces 13 00:01:00,409 --> 00:01:05,780 until it's down to a piece that one person can manage in a day or in an hour. 14 00:01:05,780 --> 00:01:12,240 One of the pieces that it's divided down into is the Wide Field Camera 3. I divide 15 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,200 that down into small pieces. I need an electrical engineer to make sure that 16 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,500 all the circuitry works and that all the power goes to the right places. 17 00:01:19,500 --> 00:01:23,760 I need a mechanical engineer who is going to build the structure that holds 18 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:29,040 all of this stuff. I need an optics engineer. We need detectors. And my job is 19 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:34,620 really to break that down. You know, what does it mean to build a thousand 20 00:01:34,620 --> 00:01:38,000 pounds of hardware that's going to do this great science? 21 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:42,800 (Astronaut:) "Hey, Megan, let's stop here and get down about six or eight inches--" 22 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,980 (Jackie:) I got the kinds of jobs you can get without a college education and without and motivation and 23 00:01:46,980 --> 00:01:49,580 being a young kid. I needed to work on something that 24 00:01:49,580 --> 00:01:54,020 mattered to me. That I needed to feel a personal connection with making an 25 00:01:54,020 --> 00:02:00,970 investment in the future, in humanity's future, my future. 26 00:02:04,189 --> 00:02:10,580 I found out that when it matters to me and when I feel like I'm being a 27 00:02:10,580 --> 00:02:14,330 part of something bigger than myself, and I'm willing to try as hard as 28 00:02:14,330 --> 00:02:19,069 I can, nothing can stand in my way. No matter 29 00:02:19,069 --> 00:02:22,970 what it is that you're facing in your life, the piece that is standing between 30 00:02:22,970 --> 00:02:28,549 you and your dream is you. And that anybody can make a choice in their life 31 00:02:28,549 --> 00:02:32,660 to go after what matters to them to get the skills that they need to go after 32 00:02:32,660 --> 00:02:37,310 what matters to them. And they can get there because if I'm here, believe me, you 33 00:02:37,310 --> 00:02:40,660 can get to where you want to go. 34 00:02:40,660 --> 00:02:47,580 (music)