HomeMy WebLinkAboutShayla Rivera
Updated 6:51 AM on Sunday, Apri/16, 2006
Aggie Rivera studied engineering but chose
comedy
By JIM BUTLER
Eagle Staff Writer
Shayla Rivera never thought she was funny, even when she was
voted class clown in high school. And when she decided to launch a
comedy career instead of a space shuttle, her father said, "What took
you so long?"
After earning a degree in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M
University and working for NASA in Houston, Rivera traded her
dream of being the first Puerto Rican woman in space for a walk
across the stage of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Rivera returns to her alma mater Saturday in conjunction with a
Symposium on Gender and Latina Discourse sponsored by the A&M
English Department. Her free show will be at 8 p.m. Saturday in
Rudder Forum.
"When they invited me to perform at A&M, I got down on my knees,"
Rivera said from her California home. "I was so excited. It's like going
to Mecca."
Rivera was born and grew up in Puerto Rico. The day after her high
school graduation, her family moved to Houston.
"I couldn't speak English," she said. "Oh, I knew 'table' and 'window'
but not much else. I watched TV and made up my mind to learn what
they were saying. In five months I could speak English pretty good,
which proves that anyone can do anything."
Rivera's older sister, Annette, attended A&M and majored in electrical
. .
englneenng.
"I had to pick something harder, so I majored in aerospace
engineering," Rivera said. "My father was in the Air Force, and my
brother was into planes, so I wanted to be an astronaut, the first
Puerto Rican woman in space." (Rivera's sister also went to work for
NASA and is now the liaison with the Japanese Space Agency.)
Shayla Rivera worked with the team that plotted where the shuttle's
booster rocket would fall back to Earth. "We also determined when to
detonate the external tank so it would fall back as debris." Another of
her duties was to help develop a database that allocated resources
for the space station.
From there, Rivera went to selling environmental systems to the
chemical industry.
"That meant a lot of hard hats and steel-toe shoes," she said.
All salesmen, at one time 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.
"I remember watching Zig Ziglar, and I 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, I signed up for a comedy seminar," Rivera said. "I did five
minutes and fell in love with it. That's what I wanted to do. I
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 Puerto Rican rocket scientist, a wife, a mother, an ex-wife
and a single mother."
Rivera is the host of a new Lifetime Television show You're Not the
Man I Married, 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 prime-time television
shows. And she has toured with Mexican comedian Paul Rodriguez.
Rivera lists Bill Cosby and George Carlin as comedians who have
inspired her. "I like the classic comedians, the ones who tell stories of
real life."
The free symposium runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday in the
Mayo Room in the Cushing Library on campus. The public is invited.
Speakers include several noted Latina scholars. A reception will be
held at 3 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center Stark Galleries.
· Jim Butler's e-mail addressisjim.butler@theeagle.com.