Perhaps because of her scientific, logical mind, combined with an upbringing close by the brilliant desert skies, her sights remained fixated on the stars. She remembers first being excited about the space program with the launch of the Challenger Shuttle as a junior in high school. It was the realization that not all astronauts had to be pilots – since one of the astronauts was Christa McAuliffe, a teacher – that prompted her to first think about being an astronaut herself.
McAuliffe died with the six other Challenger astronauts when the shuttle exploded during launch in 1986. Somehow, the tragedy did nothing to dissuade Caldwell. Instead, it inspired her new dream to reach the stars as a full-fledged astronaut.
Tracy Caldwell wasn’t excited when her dad accompanied her on a visit to Cal State Fullerton. It was down to two choices – UC San Diego or Fullerton.
At Fullerton, they met with John Olmsted, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, who was named the year’s Outstanding Professor in 1998 and turned out to be one of her “most treasured mentors.” It wasn’t until much later that she realized how lucky she had been to choose Fullerton.
“I stumbled into it, really, because my dad wanted to keep me close by, but it was a great choice because I got to work so closely with the faculty,” Caldwell says now. Shortly after meeting Olmsted, she told him she wanted to shoot for the stars: “I want to be an astronaut,” she blurted out. Over the years, Olmsted and some of her other professors embraced her dream and encouraged her.
“When asked if he thought I had the ’right stuff,’ it was Dr. Olmsted who said to me that if determination was all it took, I could be whatever I wanted to be,” Caldwell recalls. “I took that message to heart and feel it enriched me.”
