Katherine Johnson by Benjamin H.

You maybe have a hero, or someone who you highly value, and then you ascertain the price that person had to pay to be who they are known to be. Facing adversity is one of the many things we have overcome in this life. It can teach us life lessons and build up patience. It can also push us to challenge when it seems impossible. Facing adversity forms our character and it helps us be the best version of us. An example is Katherine Johnson, who faced sexism and racism, but that didn’t stop her to achieve her lifelong dream.

Moving on, Katherine Johnson had a strenuous and segregated life. Based on this information, from Nasa.gov, “she was born in August 26, 1918 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.” Back then the U.S. was separated by race, and this was called segregation. Secondly, according to the article, “Who is Katherine Johnson,” “As a very young girl she loved to count everything, she counted everything. from the number of steps she took to get to the road, to the number of forks and plates she washed when doing the dishes.” This shows us that she had a love for mathematics, and that she was eager to go to school and learn. But unfortunately, according to space.com, “Johnson's hometown did not offer public schooling for black children past eighth grade, so her family moved 120 miles (193 kilometers) away so that she could attend high school”. In other words, the impediment of racism may have her detained from going to school, but her family wanted her to have a good education, so they moved and at the age of 10 Katherine was in high school because she was very intelligent and excelled. Another thing is that in Nasa.gov, “she was one of the three black students to be handpicked to integrate West Virginia.” In final, even though she had faced racism because of her color, her love for mathematics lifted her up and she never gave up even though the obstacles were hard.

Going forward, after she graduated high school, she started college at West Virginia University's graduate math program, she was the first black woman to be there. In fact, in “Who Was Katherine Johnson,” we can read that “One of her math professors, the renowned Dr. William W. Schieffelin Claytor, recognized Johnson’s bright and inquisitive mind. “You’d make great research mathematician,” he told her. (A research mathematician does many things, one of which is solving large math problems.) Then Claytor helped her become one”. We can see that Katherine’s professor saw and acknowledged her talent and helped her with her life journey to become who she is now. But she graduated from college when segregation still existed, (remember earlier I said that when she was born the U.S. was segregated) and she would have to face racism to achieve her dream because she was an African American.  For example, according to the article, “Who is Katherine Johnson,” we can see that, “When Johnson graduated from college, the United States was still segregated. During this time, “segregation" meant that different races were separated from each other in many places and activities. African Americans were rarely able to have jobs in mathematics and science. It was also very unusual for women of any race to have degrees in mathematics.” This tells us that back then it was very hard for African Americans to do anything, especially if they were women, not just black women, all women. Overall, Katherine Johnson found herself facing racism and discrimination, but that was part of her process to make her one of the most important women in history. 

Meanwhile, when Katherine was out of college she applied for NASA, which was currently named NACA for certain reasons. For example, according to the article, who is Katherine Johnson, NACA was hiring women — including African Americans — to be "computers.” These female computers calculated the mathematics for the engineers who were working on the space program. The first time Johnson applied, all the jobs were already filled. She was disappointed, but she didn't give up. Johnson applied the following year, and that time the agency offered her a job. She took it and worked with a large group of women who were all computers like her. Based on this information, Katherine put aside her disappointed feelings and never surrendered to her circumstances and in the end, she got the job. However, she went through sexism like we talked about earlier. According to the article, “Who is Katherine Johnson,” women weren't allowed to attend meetings and Katherine wanted to attend but the colleagues didn’t let her simply because she was a woman, but eventually they let her. At first what her colleagues did was unfair but the fact that they let her join the meeting eventually was a good deed. But there is more than that, according to Britanica.com, During this time, NACA was segregated, and West Computers had to use separate bathrooms and dining facilities. That changed in 1958 when NACA was incorporated into the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which banned segregation. Overall, Johnson faced racism and sexism together in NASA, but she overcame it, and what didn’t make her give up, made her stronger and helped her accomplish her goal in NASA.                    

To end these thoughts, Katherine faced adversity in order to achieve her dream. Even though there were obstacles like racism, discrimination, and sexism, she overcame them and won the good race with a good career. She had a career in NASA and became a participant of great miracles. That is the biography of Katherine Johnson.