• Question: All your life did you want to become a scientist?

    Asked by trudiryder to Jo, Alice JB, Andy, Barbara, James on 14 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by armstrong09, knowledge.
    • Photo: Jo Hulsmans

      Jo Hulsmans answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I have known from a very young age I wanted to become a scientist. When I was 5 my parents took me to an amusement park in Belgium which had a ride with dinosaur statues. I was completely fascinated and the next year I made my mother read out every book I could find in the library about dinosaurs to me.

    • Photo: Andy Norton

      Andy Norton answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Heya,

      I always quite fancied being a scientist. My Dad used to work for a company making various margarines, spreads, and things like that, and I used to visit his work as a kid. He used to give us a lab coat, a pair of googles, and we used to try and “help” him in the lab (I think that just made a mess!). I always thought that science was pretty cool, and seemed very glamorous to walk around in a lab coat! When I got a bit older, and started doing GCSEs, I realised that I actually wanted to do science; not because I wanted to be making spreads like my Dad, but because I wanted to actually do some cool bits of science that were really exciting to me. And from then onwards, I’ve always wanted to go to Uni and do science, and then be a scientist afterwards.

    • Photo: Alice Jones Bartoli

      Alice Jones Bartoli answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Nope, not at all.
      I went through most of school fairly convinced that I wanted to be a journalist. It wasn’t until sixth form, and even really university that I really considered a career in science. I almost failed my biology studies in sixth form by revising all the ‘wrong’ things for the exam. I studied Psychology at university because I loved the subject, but there’s still plenty of other non-science jobs you can do with a Psychology degree. It wasn’t until I spent a year of my degree working as a researcher at Great Ormond Street Hospital that I decided that that’s what I wanted to do. I loved the freedom of working as a researcher, answering useful and interesting questions and working things out for yourself. I also massively admired the people that I worked with.

      I do think that one of the best ways to work out what it is that you want to do is to try it out, and to talk to people that are already doing it. It’s so hard to get a good idea of what a ‘scientist’ really is unless you meet some, hear about what they do, and maybe get a chance to see how what they do is important and useful. This is why stuff like IAS is cool, but I think there should be more.

    • Photo: Barbara Guinn

      Barbara Guinn answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      No. I didn’t know about PhDs or how to become a scientist when I went to University. There wasn’t even the world wide web (1988) and I went to University not being sure what I could or would do with my degree. I think I told one friend I expected to finish my degree and get married (none of my family had gone to University) and I hadn’t really thought about it more than that! However I loved medicine from the age of 8 and I loved human bodies and how they worked. I loved biology at school and found it easy. I am so glad I am a scientist, and have and do really enjoy my job.

    • Photo: James Jennings

      James Jennings answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      I would say MOST of my life I have wanted to be a scientist. I have also been through stages of wanting to be an author, a chef, a video games designer…

      I did enjoy science the most of all subjects throughout my education. I was advised that it was a good path to follow with regards to job options. I was lucky that I happened to have a natural talent for it, which also helped my enthusiasm for the subject. Add to that a couple of great teachers, and there are all the ingredients for a keen scientist.

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