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Jonathan Hernandez
Professor Lewis
English 113A
12/11/15
The Wonders of Our Universe
Pieces of literature can have a really big impact in your life. Such as reading The
Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister can teach children that sharing will make you feel good inside.
People of all ages can be impacted in ways they never thought possible while reading literature.
Literature can impact a person in a big way or a small way. There are two pieces of literature that
impacted my life in a big way: Theres No Place like Space by Dr. Seuss and A Brief History of
Time by Stephen Hawking. These two stories impacted me in a big way because when I was a
child I experienced something that opened my eyes to the vast world of space and astronomy.
Because of this experience it later contributed to choosing my major in college and choosing
what career path to pursue.
Back when I was in 4th grade my family and I went on trip to Idaho for a relatives
wedding. In the car there was my family of five plus two of my aunts from my moms side and
their children. So in an eight people car there were 10 people. From where I live the distance to
Idaho is roughly 15 hours of driving and my dad drove continuously without stopping because he
thought we would be late. But in reality we were a day early when we arrived at the location.
When we were getting in the car to head out I had the privilege of sitting in the passenger seat
and being his navigator. He gave me the GPS and I was giving my dad directions. While on the
road to our destination the sun started going down and the rest of my family was begging to fall

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asleep, while I tried my best to keep awake and navigate for my dad. I looked outside the
window and saw nothing but darkness as far as the eye can see. It looked like a wasteland with
no sign of civilization within miles. As I slowly drifted asleep I felt my dad tap me on the
shoulder and he tells me to look up. I look up and I am astonished at what I see. The night sky is
covered with a blanket of stars. I have never seen the night sky filled with millions of stars, since
in LA the sky is covered with light pollution.
When we got to Idaho I spent my nights in the back yard of my cousins house staring at
the night sky and trying to connect the stars in my head to make a picture. I was so amazed by
what I saw during that night that I wanted to learn more. When I got home to California and went
back to school I checked out a book about space. The book was called Theres No Place like
Space by Dr. Seuss. I was excited to learn more about space and all the things that are out there
in the universe and since I always loved Dr. Seuss books I checked out this one. From reading
this book I learned the names of all the planets in our solar system. I even learned a handy
Mnemonic Device for memorizing the planets in order: My Very Educated Mother Just Served
Us Nachos. This book opened my eyes to the wonders of space and made me realize how much I
was interested in learning more about space. To fuel my curiosity even further I checked out
another book named Space: A Childrens Encyclopedia. It was this book where I learned when
the first satellite was launched, when the first man went to the moon, and a lot of other fun facts
about space and our universe. I liked these types of books as a kid because they had a lot of
pictures in them with explanations of what the picture was.
Unfortunately as I got older my passion for space died out. When I got to middle school
space was no longer in my field of interest. I felt like I had matured and that learning about space
was just a phase that I was going through like every young child. I never thought about learning

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more on space for a couple of years until high school. In 10th grade I took a college prep class; in
it we had to look into majors that we were interested in for college. At first I had chosen Social
Science as a major in order to become a lawyer. But then I reflected on myself and remembered
how much I loved space as a child. From this I was stumped and didnt know what major to
pursue: something a love or something that will bring me money.
It was at this point where I purchased A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. I
chose to purchase this book because Stephan Hawking has always been an idol for me; I want to
someday receive my PhD in physics just like him. In this book Stephan Hawking explains how
the universe came into existence and his theories on the universe. From this book I learned that
the universe is ever expanding and people need to be educated on whats out there. It was this
book that inspired me to choose something I love over money. Ultimately I chose to major in
Physics to become an astronomer instead of Social Science to become a lawyer. I chose A Brief
History of Time over any other book because it was written by Stephen Hawking who is a
leading Physicist in the astronomy field. He is my role model and I would someday like to
become like him and have a PhD in physics. It was then when I decided to buy a telescope
because in Los Angeles the stars are not visible at night. I used my telescope to view the moon
and record everything I saw in my notebook. Then I started turning my telescope towards other
visible planets like Venus and Mars. I even explored the night sky with it and found lots of
wondrous things.
Literature has had a very important impact on my life and it can also have big impact on
other peoples lives. It can open their minds to the vast world of possibilities and opportunities.
Thats what these two books have done for me, Theres No Place like Space by Dr. Seuss and A
Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. These two books inspired me to look deeper into the

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infinite universe and learn as much as I could about it. It also inspired me to choose my major for
college and to pursue a career in astronomy and astrophysics. As time passes I learn more and
more about our universe and I get more and more curious, wanting to learn as much as I can. All
because I read two books that impacted me in a tremendous way.