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-"[ COuJdn't"speak~English," 'she
laid. "Dh, [ knew 'table' and 'win-
jow' but not much else. [ watched
rv and made up my mind to learn
",hat they were saying. [n five
nonths [ could speak English pret-
:y good, which proves that anyone
;an do anything."
Rivera's older sister, Annette,
,ttended A&M and majored in elec-
rical engineering.
"[ had to pick something harder,
;0 [ majored in aerospace engineer-
ng," Rivera said. "My father was
n the Air Force, and my brother
vas into planes, so [ wanted to be
m astronaut, the first Puerto Rican
voman in space." (Rivera's sister
",,0 went to work for NASA and is I
'ow the liaisQn with the Japanese
:pace Agency.)
Shayla Rivera worked with the
eam that plotted where the shut-
Ie's booster rocket would fall back
) Earth. "We also determined
rhen to detonate the external tank
o it would fall back as debris."
.oother of her duties was to help
evelop a database that allocated
esources for the space station.
From there, Rivera went to sell-
19 environmental systems to the
hemical industry.
r -
"That meant a lot of hard
hats and steel-toe shoes," she
said.
All salesmen, at one tinle or
another, are forced to listen to
motivational speakers, and it
was one of the best-known
who turned out to have a
huge influence on Rivera.
"[ remember watching Zig
Ziglar, and [ was amazed at
what was going on in the
room," Rivera said.
The experience led Rivera
to take a job as a corporate
trainer and speaker.
"In 1993, 1 signed up for a
'1 ~
lJ' -
I comedy seminar," Rivera said.
I "[ did five minutes and fell in
· love with it. That's what [
wanted to do. ['auditioned for
the Comedy Showcase in
: Pasadena [Texas], and they
invited me to be a regular."
Asked where she gets her
material, Rivera said, "My
bag comes from being a Puer-
to Rican rocket scientist, a
wife, a motiler, an ex-wife
and a single mother."
Rivera is the host of a new
Lifetime Television show
You're Not the Man I Mar-
ried, which she describes as
"Fear Factor for husbands."
She performed in Rocket
Science and Salsa, a one-
woman show directed and
choreographed by Debbie
Allen, who starred in the TV
-
series Fame and directed
dozens of episodes of prinle
tinle television shows. And
she has toured with Mexica
comedian Paul Rodrignez.
Rivera lists Bill Cosby an,
George Carlin as comediaru
who have inspired her. "[ Ii
the classic comedians, the on
who tell stories of real life."
The free symposium rum
from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Friday in the Mayo Room il
the Cushing Library on can
pus. The public is invited.
Speakers include several
noted Latina scholars. A
reception will be held at 3
p.m. in the Memorial Stude
Center Stark Galleries.
. Jim Butler's e-mail address
jim .butler@theeagle.com.