All the way from the International Space Station, Meir talked about her love for science and exploration.
Some lucky middle school students had the opportunity Monday to talk to a Scripps Oceanography of UC San Diego alum and current NASA astronaut all the way from outer space!
Astronaut Jessica Meir chatted from a faraway "land" with about 150 middle school students at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla on Monday.
"The weather is very steady, as usual up here," Meir said from the International Space Station.
Students from Fulton K-8 School and Memorial Preparatory for Scholars and Athletes filed in, ready to hear about her journey "From STEM to Stars."
"What was your inspiration to become an astronaut?" one student asked.
Meir said she has always been enthralled with exploration ever since she was 5 years old. She hasn't stopped exploring since.
"Make sure that you identify your passion and do what it is that you really care about. Once you've done that, you do need to work very hard to make those dreams come true," she told students.
Students listened closely as she shared her overall love for science and described day-to-day life on the ISS as a scientist, and she was floating in zero gravity the whole time.
"It really means so much for me to be able to share my life up here with all of you," she said.
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KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew member, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir waves before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
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Members of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) (from L) United Arab Emirates' astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and US astronaut Jessica Meir report to Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin (R) arrive to board a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
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International Space Station (ISS) crew member, NASA's US astronaut Jessica Meir waves as she boards the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft before its blasts off for the ISS, on September 25, 2019 at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Photo by Maxim SHIPENKOV / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read MAXIM SHIPENKOV/AFP/Getty Images)
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KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew members, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, the United Arab Emirates' first astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir (L-R) before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew member, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir during a spacesuit check before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
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Member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir salutes people from a bus before boarding a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew member, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir during a spacesuit check before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir has her spacesuit tested before boarding a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir has her spacesuit tested before boarding a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
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Member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir has her spacesuit tested before boarding a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew member, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir during a spacesuit check before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew members, the United Arab Emirates' first astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir (L-R) before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew members, the United Arab Emirates' first astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir (L-R) before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Crew member of the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir waves from inside a bus during a farewell ceremony outside the Cosmonauts' hotel on his way to the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. - Al Mansouri will make history by becoming the first Arab on the International Space Station said he had received support from around the world before his "dream" mission. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: A Soyuz-FG rocket booster blasts off from Gagarin's Start at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft with ISS Expedition 61/62 prime crewmembers onboard, the United Arab Emirates' first astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
Meir hails from Maine and received her Ph. D. in marine biology from Scripps in 2009.
To track Meir's journey, visit her NASA page here.
