• Question: Have you always wanted to be a scientist?

    Asked by anon-198899 to Srinath, Natasha, Nana, Luisa, Gautam, Alex on 5 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by anon-198323, anon-198567.
    • Photo: Alexander Allen

      Alexander Allen answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      When I was 5, I wanted to be an astronaut! Then very quickly I had no idea what I wanted to do but I read a lot of books on space. In school I took the subjects that interested me, which included all the sciences. At this point I had no idea that I wanted to be a scientist…

      So I moved through GCSE and A-level taking science, music and maths because I enjoyed them. I picked subjects I was good at and subjects I liked. I then applied for physics at university but it was quite close. I was considering lots of other options and I still had no idea that I wanted to be a scientist.

      I did my degree in physics for 4 years and really found areas in the subject that interested me. I started to discover things about how the world worked and I learned about chaos theory. Then I started doing projects that allowed me to use computer simulations and nanoscience. (We looked at how lots of molecules would gather together.)

      I was in my fourth year at university and I was 22 when I started realising that I might want to be a scientist but I went out to do other jobs for 4 more years. I started my PhD when I was 25, which is later than a lot of people.

      I know lots of people who have gone straight through school knowing what they wanted to do and I know people who are working with me who still aren’t sure. Do what you love and explore all the options that interest you or those that you haven’t tried. There is no “correct route” to science and some people always know they wanted to be a scientist. Some decide years later. I just tried things

    • Photo: Marialuisa Crosatti

      Marialuisa Crosatti answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      When I was a child, I used to pretend to be a doctor (I did not know scientists existed) but I was the one studying the disease my dolls used to get, try to understand its causes and eventually succeed in treating it. I am way, I used to play to be a scientist (in biology) but I did not know it yet

    • Photo: Srinath Kasturirangan

      Srinath Kasturirangan answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      When I was a child, I loved history and intrigued by the pyramids in Egypt. I wanted to be an archaeologist and dreamed of digging up ancient civilizations in the remotest places on earth. I still love traveling and visiting ancient ruins all over the world from the volcanic ruins in Pompeii to the Mayan civilization in central America.

    • Photo: Nana Odom

      Nana Odom answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      As a child i had an enquiring mind. I enjoyed watching and taking part in science quizzes. I also enjoyed watching documentary on technology and one which i do remember was a CNN documentary in 1994 for the 25th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 11 landing on the moon. I was 11years and had just started secondary school and instantly developed an interest in working for NASA. I chose the 3 sciences and maths in senior secondary year 1 ( year 10 equivalence) and went ahead to pursue a degree in physics.

    • Photo: Natasha Dowey

      Natasha Dowey answered on 6 Mar 2019: last edited 6 Mar 2019 11:08 am

      I remember wanting to be a children’s author when I was really young, because I loved books. And then an English teacher (because I loved books a bit more!) Then I spent ages wanting to be a family lawyer, when I was about 15, because I wanted to help people. But I went and did work experience in 2 law firms and found it really boring (it’s really important to do work experience, because the job you have in mind may not be what you think it is!!)
      For my GCSEs and A levels, I chose subjects that I enjoyed. My A Levels were a real mix, English, Maths, Geography and Spanish. I started really loving physical geography. I never thought of it as science back then- I just thought of it as a subject that I loved. I grew up in Cornwall and wanted to understand the environments around me. I thought of being a meteorologist, and went to do work experience at a weather station, but again, it wasn’t quite what I thought it would be! Volcanoes soon became what I really loved, and that’s when I first realised it was science that I needed- my geography teacher told me I needed to study “Earth Science” at university to be able to keep looking at volcanoes. I chose it because it was something I felt strongly about. I didn’t know what my career would be, I just knew I enjoyed learning about the planet.
      There is no straightforward ‘path’ to be a scientist. Just always try to find something that interests you, and that you feel passionate about. Choose subjects at school that you love doing most. And test out different jobs to see if you connect with them if you can. I wish I had got to take part in competitions like this to find out more about different jobs- it’s really useful to get a feel for some different careers before you take your next step!

Comments