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The question

What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore?
Ellen Ochoa

Electrical engineer and astronaut; director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, 2013–2018

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
It’s a very interesting and challenging field! It’s important to study math and science throughout high school and college, and major in some technical area. Take advantage of all of the opportunities that colleges provide, including professor office hours, tutoring, student chapters of organizations like Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and Society of Physics Students (SPS), and project-based hands-on classes.

Written interview published by the National Women’s History Museum, 8 August 2018 source ↗

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Frank M. Johnson Jr. United States district judge, Middle District of Alabama, 1955–1979; judge of the Eleventh Circuit
Study. Be honest. Don’t violate the laws and get in trouble. Get you a good spouse that will support you, because you never stop working and studying. The fact that you get the place just means you’ve started as far as the work and the pressure is concerned. That’s the only advice I’d know to give.
Recorded Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 16 March 1991 source ↗
Whitney Wolfe Herd Founder and chief executive of Bumble
I think fear and fear of the unknown and perceived failure is what holds people back. For me, I am more scared of complacency than having something not work out. I'd rather take a leap of faith and fall than stand on the edge forever.
Recorded CNBC Make It interview, conducted 2019, 11 February 2021 source ↗
Annie Proulx Novelist and short-story writer
Write slowly and by hand only about subjects that interest you. […] Develop craftsmanship through years of wide reading.
Recorded The Guardian Review, 20 February 2010 source ↗
Ory Okolloh Co-founder of Ushahidi; lawyer and open-government activist
I wish I had known how to “manage up.” I wish I had not believed that my work would speak for itself; the working world requires a bit more than that.
Recorded Quartz written questionnaire source ↗

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