Quotes from Jonny Kim

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.

My father was the classic epitome of a very hard immigrant-worker. He made up for his lack of education by working really hard... He worked six days a week for as long as I can remember.

When I was a young kid, I didn't have a lot of confidence.

If I could talk to my younger self, I would just say that the path to great things is filled with a lot of stumbles, suffering, and challenges along the way. But if you have the right attitude and know that hard times will pass - and you get up each time - you will reach your destination.

Never in a million years would I have thought I could have been an astronaut candidate.

I applied to zero colleges.

I didn't like the person I was growing up to become. I needed to find myself and my identity. And for me, getting out of my comfort zone, getting away from the people I grew up with, and finding adventure, that was my odyssey, and it was the best decision I ever made.

I live in Boston so I'm used to small spaces.

Success to me means serving a calling higher than yourself that improves the lives of everyone and is done completely in the name of service.

I was a really low-confident kid. I did have friends from playing sports - I played water polo and I swam. But at the heart of it, I was really scared of talking to people, and making friends, and making relationships.

I know certainly that my parents sacrificed a lot to come to America, and to... start a new life for their family and their future families. At least with first-generation Asian-American immigrants, parents put so much risk in work and to provide the best for their children.

Don't let that hunger for the unknown go away. That curiosity is so important, so you should maintain that passion for what you do.

My only expectation, which I tell my kids very, very often, is that they follow their heart.