• Question: did u always want to be a scientist. If not, what did u want to be before?

    Asked by anon-241417 to Ross, Natalia, Martin, Gabriela, Ellie, Chukwuka on 10 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Ross Alexander

      Ross Alexander answered on 10 Mar 2020:

      When I was at high school i flipped between wanting to be a professional rugby player / a primary school teacher / a writer or a biologist. Basically because these were the subjects i liked at school .

      I was ultimately too small for a professional rugby player ( got injured at Scotland u18 selection trial. I Decided that i could always go back to being a teacher at a later date. I almost went to uni to study English but then realised that my spelling and grammar were rubbish and that i might not get a job later on.

      So i went for biology and have never looked back. i would say it has worked out pretty well for me though. I get to write lots / i get to lecture (teach) and i am now a coach for the scotland touch rugby team.

    • Photo: Martin Johnsson

      Martin Johnsson answered on 10 Mar 2020:

      Honestly, I came to the idea of being a scientist very late.

      I did know for a long time (since fourth grade or so) that I wanted to become an engineer. My dad was an engineer. I suspect that has something to do with it.

      It was really only during the last year of my undergraduate studies that I got the idea that doing a PhD (about chicken genetics!) might be fun.

    • Photo: Eleanor Spence

      Eleanor Spence answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      Hi Amy,

      When I was at school I wanted to be a Vet. I signed up for several weeks of work experience at different local vets and farms and found out that it wasnt for me! I then just followed my favourite subject (biology) to university where I found specific topics interested me, especially insects and pathogens. This eventually led me to where I am today!

    • Photo: Gabriela da Silva Xavier

      Gabriela da Silva Xavier answered on 11 Mar 2020:

      Yep! There is no one single reason why: I loved science subjects, I quite fancied lab work (from as much as one can judge from what one saw on TV)… I did try some other things, as my parents wanted me to have some certainty before coming abroad to uni, and didn’t like any of the other things I tried.

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