Sally Ride

When Sally Ride was growing up in Los Angeles, she pictured herself as a tennis champion. She would have been amazed to learn her future. At the age of 32, she became the first American woman to go into space.

On a tennis scholarship, she went to a private high school for girls. Then she played professional tennis for a little while. But soon she decided she’d rather go to college. She went to Stanford University where she studied physics and English.