In his speech to the crowd, Olivas said, "Look at me, and I am just a reflection of what you are. I came from this environment. This is my town."

Laura Page brought her toddler son to see Olivas speak.

"My son loves the space shuttle. He talks about the moon and the stars, so I thought he would be very excited," Page said.

In addition to his speech, Olivas brought a gift to UTEP. Olivas took a UTEP T-shirt up into space with him and presented it to the university.

"You need to push yourself. You need work hard, learn from your mistakes and learn from your failures and press on and move on, move up. Reach for your dreams and the sky. I promise you will achieve it," Olivas said.

While Franco is only a sophomore, he said Olivas' words made an impact. "It shows me to pursue and to never give up and to keep on trying. Once it fails keep on trying."