35-YO Man Is An Ex-Soldier, Harvard Doctor, & Is Soon To Be A NASA Astronaut

There are so many things we wish we could become. Many of us want to be doctors, engineers, and professors when we were younger. After having grown up, so many of us wish we could be artists, writers, or travellers. How would it be like if we could become all of those things in our lifetime? While many of us keep wondering, one guy actually went ahead and achieved it!

Meet Jonny Kim, a 35-year-old Korean-American living in Los Angeles who has been a soldier, a doctor, and is on his way to becoming a NASA astronaut – all before he turns 36!

According to a report by Daily Mail, Jon used to be a quiet kid when he was in school and lacked self-confidence. However, after he got to know about the US Navy, he enrolled himself United States Naval Special Warfare Command.

“Going into the Navy was the best decision I ever made in my life because it completely transformed that scared boy who didn’t have any dreams to someone who started to believe in himself.”

He served as a Special Operations Combat Medic, a sniper, navigator, and a point man on nearly a 100 combat missions in the Middle East.

However, there was this one time when he saw a fellow soldier getting shot on the face while on the field in 2006. He felt helpless as he couldn’t provide proper medical aid to the man and he later succumbed to his wounds. It was then that he decided to study medicine.

He went on to pursue medicine at Harvard University and specialised in Emergency Medicine. He became a resident physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

In 2017, Jon was selected to be an astronaut for NASA after he had applied for their training program. According to CNN, he had mentioned in an interview how he “fundamentally believed in the NASA mission of advancing our space frontier all the while developing innovation and new technologies that would benefit all of humankind.”

Jon, along with 11 other men and women, respectfully, were selected for NASA’s Astronaut Group 22 out of 18,300 applicants.

In the training programme, he was taught spacewalking, robotics, International Space Systems, T-38 jet proficiency and Russian language.

Jon is now eagerly waiting for his first assignment, likely to the moon!

A true privilege and honor to walk among the @NASA Astronaut Corps with my brothers and sisters. We know there are many qualified and deserving candidates out there – we're the lucky ones to represent humanity. Let's work towards a better future for our world and our children. pic.twitter.com/eUv8iSK7gn

— Jonny Kim (@JonnyKimUSA) January 13, 2020

It’s never too late to pursue your dreams. One can be whoever they want to be!