Since I was little, I have been asthmatic. I was hospitalized more than once at a very young age. Now, now I am still inspired—or maybe… traumatized—by that. I remember taking off the oxygen mask because it was uncomfortable. I was seven years old and I didn’t want to be there.

 

The doctor, so that I could basically breathe, put a helmet on me that gave me oxygen, one made for children, and told me it was an astronaut helmet. I got excited and couldn’t wait. They put it on me, and I was happy.

 

I got used to hospitals, but I became afraid of doctors. Later on, I couldn’t see someone wearing a white coat without bursting into tears. I cried when I saw an ice cream seller, a photographer, and a teacher.

 

And after all that, I did want to be an astronaut—but I couldn’t because I was asthmatic. So I wanted to be a firefighter… that wasn’t possible either.

Fine. I will be a teacher. my coat will be blue.