Maria Renker always dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Now, the mother of three works as a contractor for the European Space Agency. She's living her dream even though she hasn't gone to space.
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00:00I wanted to explore space. I wanted to understand how each planet works, how the
00:09star is shining brightly upon us. About seven or eight years old I was already
00:15dreaming about becoming an astronaut. My country didn't have a space agency so as
00:21a child it was impossible to become an astronaut. But I'm still dreaming about
00:25becoming an astronaut, until now. And maybe I could go to space someday.
00:41I'm Maria Renker. I work under a Starian Group under the European Space Agency. We
00:48support about two dozen missions to launch satellites into space.
00:55It's a contribution of hundreds of people working on it. So watching it go into
01:02space is a mixed emotion. You are happy and excited and at the same time worried
01:08if, you know, something goes wrong.
01:11Successful state separation.
01:14I even cried when Hera flew to space. It was very exciting.
01:18For Hera, it's to study and understand how it can protect Earth from asteroids.
01:27I love my current job because I get to meet a lot of interesting people, especially the
01:35ones I admire, the astronauts.
01:37I applied for the job and I got it. If you are capable and you have the right qualifications,
01:44I think you'll be able to get what you want.
01:48In the Philippines, when I was there, I joined STEM camps. So that's science and technology,
01:58engineering and mathematics. I love gathering data and information. I don't know, it's weird,
02:04but that's how investigatory starts.
02:14Because of love, I came here to Germany. My husband, Michael, is half German, half Filipino.
02:22We met when we were both studying the Philippines in Ila Ila City. It's called the City of Love.
02:28So it's perfect.
02:32I feel that Germany is partly my home because I grew up in the Philippines.
02:38Philippines will always be in my heart. That's why I always teach my kids my culture, my language, and my experiences.
02:49I learned to cook here in Germany because my mother never really learned how to cook because she was very focused on her career and academe.
03:02She was really a different kind of mommy, but she was a good provider and she really loved me and my children.
03:13So that means cooking. When I moved here, I tried cooking in the kitchen and it caught fire.
03:23It was really funny and scary at the same time.
03:26Yeah, scary. More and more scarier than funnier.
03:28Yeah, more scarier, yeah.
03:32I felt like it was a form of discrimination, but indirectly, because we all know that here in Germany, discrimination is illegal.
03:42It was even witnessed by my daughter. I was visiting my doctor. In fact, there were many incidents that she was really rude towards me.
03:52That was the edge. The last visit I had, she didn't allow me to wait at the waiting area.
03:59It was empty. It was empty. And she made me wait outside the clinic. We filed a complaint. And immediately, just changed doctors.
04:12I published my own book. I write my own book.
04:17This is the book. In English, it's my dream beyond the stars.
04:25So this is a story about me. I wanted to bring that to the little girls and boys that it's fun to learn science and engineering and math.
04:38And it's also good to have a dream. For me, it's going to space. I would definitely go.
04:44And I just want to see the wonders of the universe, explore space.
04:51For other women who have big dreams, continue on dreaming. Anything is possible if you work hard.