“My proudest moment was becoming a civil servant. That was an awesome day – one of those wow moments for me. I never thought I would ever be there. You see everyone around you struggle growing up, and you never see a way out.
“To give you a little background on me, when I grew up in Oklahoma, the chief of my Cherokee tribe was Wilma Mankiller. To have a female chief, especially in Oklahoma, was unheard of. As a child, to grow up in a place where women were treated as lesser – and to be native American as well – you grow up knowing that you will never be anyone or anything, you lose the ability to dream. Chief Mankiller would talk to us and tell us that we, as women, could be more- that we could achieve, that we could even have a dream–that meant so much to me.
“It’s hard. I put myself through college with three kids – I’m telling you, it’s hard. [But what kept me pushing was] people would tell me I couldn’t. That I wasn’t enough, and I would just fight. I wanted to prove them wrong. I am enough and I can do it.
“To have seen my first launch, to see the history, and to be able to say that I’ve stood on top of the Vehicle Assembly Building, or that I’ve met astronauts [is incredible]. And I want people where I’m from to have that. I want them to see it.
“I was brand new when I came on board the Native American group at Kennedy Space Center. I had mentioned to the previous head of the employee resource group that we have an opportunity here to inspire the kids. And that’s been my thing ever since. I want to ignite these kids’ imaginations and help them see they don’t have to be what society tells them to be.
“It’s really fulfilling to see the kids and I see a bit of myself in them. They’re closed off, and it’s hard for them to trust. Many come from broken homes, and it’s hard to bring them out of their shell. But when you finally get them to talk, you see the stars.”
– Lucinda Cummins, Accountant, Kennedy Space Center
Image Credit: NASA / Frank Michaux
Interviewer: NASA / Tahira Allen