• Question: did you always know you wanted to be a scientist?

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      Asked by weheartzindzi to Chia-Yu, Helen, Matthew, Matt H, Rhod on 17 Jun 2013. This question was also asked by damburst1234, sciencecrazy11, aniqamazumder, helenai1999, tempanybabez, siobhangray12, lottie1707, jaden, leahjadechard, homelesspanda, wellsey.
      • Photo: Matt Carnie

        Matt Carnie answered on 17 Jun 2013:

        When I was at school I never thought to myself “I want to be a scientist when I leave school” but I always loved doing science experiments and reading science books. I studied Chemistry at Uni and even then I thought about other careers such as law, business, finance and sales (I even tried a few of those) but I was never as happy as when I was when I was doing science. I went back to Uni at age 27 (ancient!) to do a PhD and I have never looked back. I love my job, sometimes I actually look forward to going to work. I never had that with the other jobs I tried.

      • Photo: Helen Pritchard-Smith

        Helen Pritchard-Smith answered on 17 Jun 2013:

        In a way, i really enjoyed science at school but i also liked history and languages. I like knowing how things work and the human body was always something that fascinated me, it is so interesting and complex. Then i realised that chemistry is everywhere and there was so much more to find out about then just what goes on in our bodies that is why i chose pharmaceutical chemistry, i got to learn more about the body as well as things that affect it like drugs. This included how drugs were made and the wider impact of making molecules became apparent and i wanted to know more.

      • Photo: Matthew Hudson

        Matthew Hudson answered on 18 Jun 2013:

        Hmmm, I didn’t really have a ‘dream’ job when I was younger, but I did know that I loved science and thought that I would end up working in Science. So I studied the subjects that I enjoyed (Chemistry and Physics) and also Maths (as it’s very useful for science!). Then I just kept doing the things I enjoyed, like chemistry and engineering at university and I ended up in a job that I love!

        Best thing to do is to study hard, but make sure you are enjoying yourself whilst you do it and you’ll love your job at the end of it!

      • Photo: Rhodri Jenkins

        Rhodri Jenkins answered on 19 Jun 2013:

        Actually, no. I originally wanted to be a Doctor. I was always good in science, and I’m quite good with people so I thought I could combine those to become a Doc. However it didn’t really turn out that was and I ended up doing a Chemistry degree and then realised I loved it. I carried it on, because I believe that my work is important … and I love being able to talk about it and talk to people that are interested in science (i.e. you guys!)

        Thanks for the question 🙂

      • Photo: Chia-Yu Lin

        Chia-Yu Lin answered on 20 Jun 2013:

        Not in the first place! However, my teacher and friends are very good to me; they are willing to discuss and share their opinions, which triggered me to be into science.

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