In this interview, Astronaut Jessica Meir, Brown University class of 1999, discusses her experiences as an undergraduate student at Brown, the steps she took to become a NASA Astronaut, and her life and work completing a mission on the International Space Station.

Meir begins by sharing her family background including her parents’ immigration to the United States from Israel and Sweden and her childhood in Caribou, Maine. She recalls learning about Brown from one of her father’s coworkers and reminisces about her first moments on campus. In speaking of her time at Brown, Meir remembers putting a lot of pressure on her academic performance, but also fondly details her experiences working at Miriam Hospital under a Rhode Island Space Grant and then participating in the Space Life Sciences Training Program through the NASA Kennedy Space Center.

Meir goes on to chronicle her journey to becoming a NASA astronaut. She elaborates on the astronaut application, interview, and selection process as well as the three application cycles [?] it took for her to be accepted into the program. She recounts the moment she received the call that she had been selected as part of the class of 2013 and jumps ahead to similarly describe her first memories of entering the International Space Station in 2019. Additionally, Meir reflects on her experience as a member of the first all-women spacewalk and also shares some of her favorite and most challenging moments from her time living and working in space. Meir concludes by explaining how her mission changed her perspective of the world and reflecting on how Brown prepared her for such a successful career.