The First Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut, Jose M. Hernandez, Shared Some Words of Inspiration to a Little Boy Who Was Bullied for Wearing Space-Themed Shirts  

The First Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut, Jose M. Hernandez, Shared Some Words of Inspiration to a Little Boy Who Was Bullied for Wearing Space-Themed Shirts  
Credit: TikTok (Screenshots)

Bullying is at an all-time high in schools. A lot of factors are contributing to this. According to recent studies, the academic disruption children experienced during the pandemic hindered their ability to manage stress, problem-solve, and cultivate respectful peer relationships. Of course, the home environment plays a crucial part in this type of behavior. Due to this, there are a lot of children who have been left at the mercy of senseless cruelty in schools. This was the case for a TikTok user’s little brother.  

The TikTok user, who goes by @macacochiquito0 or Meg on the social platform, posted a video of her little brother hugging her while hugging him with tears in her eyes. The video had text over it that stated: 

“Just me crying [because] my 6-year-old brother came home from school and threw away all his shirts with Outerspace shirts with astronauts and planets on them because some kids keep calling them stupid.” 

@macacochiquito0

Now he will only wear “cool” cloths like nike and underarmor, kindergartners are brutal.

♬ original sound – ❀

She posted the video three days ago and it’s already garnered over 1.4 million likes and 8.1 million views, as of the writing of this article. Though there is pain laced in the video, TikTokers were quick to support her little brother and made sure to send words of encouragement to him via comments, duets, and stitches. 

Some of the more notable comments are from Star Wars’ official account as well as the California Science Center. 

“Space rules. Don’t let anyone tell you differently,” the Star Wars TikTok account commented. Meanwhile, the California Science Center wrote, “Space is awesome, and so are YOU, young scientist! Proudly wear those space shirts – we know a future astronaut when we see one!” 

But one of the most endearing responses came from astronaut Jose M. Hernandez, who became the first migrant farmworker to travel to space.  

Hernandez used his daughter’s TikTok account to stitch Meg’s video where he shared a sweet message of encouragement to the little boy: 

“Hello. I’m astronaut Jose Hernandez, and I want to tell you that you should still keep wearing your clothes that have space, rockets, and planets,” he said. “Because I tell you, if I would have listened to my friends when I told them I wanted to be an astronaut and they said it was a dumb idea, I would have never been able to wear this flight suit and go up into space because I’m an astronaut and I flew on Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station for 14 days on a mission. And it took me 12 attempts.” 

“NASA rejected me 11 times, but I never gave up. Even though my friend said it was a silly idea, I just kept going forward, forward, forward,” the Latino astronaut added. “This is why you should not be afraid to wear your space-themed clothes. You should be proud of them. And hopefully, if you study hard, I’ll see you working at NASA with me.” 

@macacochiquito0

#duet with @vanessa #josehernandez he got a little silly but he cant belive a real astronaut saw his video!! Afterwards he said okay maybeee ill wear my space shirts 🙂 #NASA

♬ original sound – vanessa

Who Is Jose M. Hernandez?

Hernandez is a Mexican American astronaut who has inspired countless children to pursue their STEM-related dreams. Through his memoir Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut, which later was used to create the film “A Million Miles Away,” his story has touched almost as many hearts as there are stars in our Milky Way. Well, not quite that amount – but you get the gist of it. 

Now, his daughter, Vanessa, uses her social media presence to remind everyone of what a star her dad is – among other types of content.  

The Latino Community Knows How to Show Up

Jose Hernandez was not the only Latino who shared words of encouragement with the passionate little boy. The Panamanian Puerto Rican space engineer, Joan Marie Melendez, who goes by @yourfemaleengineer online, shared some kind words too.  

“Not on my watch. I’d be more than happy to send you some space shirts with some cool mission patches to put on your wall,” her comment read.  

Melendez will become the first Puerto Rican to travel to space as she is part of the “Starborn Space” program.  

Even though the young boy had to unfortunately experience bullying, through the power of community (and social media) he was able to learn that good people still exist in this world

Let’s all hope this is a lesson to everyone: Evil never prevails.  

As for now, the internet will continue to support someone who could potentially be a future astronaut.  

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