• Question: have you always wanted to be a scientist, what was the age you were at when you knew what you wanted to do in life?

    Asked by spiderlegs to Allan, Angela, Diva, Harriet, Nathan on 28 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by matthewjferguson, jordanikin.
    • Photo: Allan Pang

      Allan Pang answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      When I was doing my secondary school (high school) in Philippines, I found that I have an inclination and interest in Biology. I particularly love Genetics, I really enjoyed studying the subject.

      One of my teachers saw the potential in me. At an early age of 16, I started out as a contestant in many interschool competitions for biology. By then I knew that my passion is on science, and my mentor encouraged me to study hard in Biology.

      When I graduated highschool, I cannot see myself studying other subjects. I knew by then that my future will be something connected to science, specifically Biology. So, that’s why I took Biology in university back in Philippines.

      After graduating Biology, I wanted to do research. But research in Philippines is not that supported very much. So I decided to go through application of medical school, I was accepted to med school but at the same time, my application in Cardiff University was also a success.

      I decided to go and study Genetics in Cardiff instead. By then the route to scientific research was pretty straightforward. I was able to get an experience in research in Wales Heart Research Institute. And I fall in love with the field of biochemistry and protein crystallography. So, now, I am doing my PhD, and nearly finishing it.

    • Photo: Harriet Groom

      Harriet Groom answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      When I was at school I loved science, particularly Biology but at that time I was thinking about being a doctor. I realised during my GCSEs (when I did separate sciences) when I had a talk from a doctor at my school, that actually I was interested in the science behind disease rather than actually being a doctor.

      So from there I decided to do Biology, Chemistry and Maths at A level (I also did German as I love languages). I really enjoyed my A levels and it was at about the age of 17 that I knew I wanted to do science for my job.

      At university I studied Natural Sciences which is very broad and I got to learn about lots of different subjects – I was inspired by the young scientists who taught me and it was at the age of around 19 that I knew I wanted to be a scientist.

    • Photo: Nathan Langford

      Nathan Langford answered on 28 Jun 2012:

      Hi spiderlegs,

      I always liked science, even when I was in primary school, but I liked lots of things and was never able to choose between them. So when I went to university, I chose to do both a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degree, so that I didn’t have to choose yet. At university, I studied Maths, Physics, Chemistry, German and even Music. And even after a couple of years, when I knew I wanted to go on and study something in more detail after undergrad, I still didn’t know exactly which one I wanted to do. All the way along, I just did the things I liked doing and found fun.

      So if you don’t know what you “want to be when you grow up”, you don’t have to choose now. Just keep doing what’s fun and what you enjoy. It’ll work itself out in the end. And you know what? It’s not the end of the world if you go to university and find out after a couple of years that there’s something slightly different you want to do. It’s not too late to change your mind – you won’t make your life a disaster by starting a new thing at 21!

    • Photo: Diva Amon

      Diva Amon answered on 5 Jul 2012:

      Hey spiderlegs, matthewferguson and jordanikin,

      I knew from quite early on that I wanted to do something with animals and the environment. When asked when I was little what I wanted to be, the answer was always some science-y career: doctor, vet, palaeontologist, marine biologist…..

      In secondary school, I knew that I wanted to definitely have a career in science but was still unsure in what exactly. Maybe biology, maybe chemistry, maybe geography. Those were my favourite subjects.

      It wasn’t until I was heading to university that had to choose between medicine and marine biology. Boy, am I glad I made the right choice! It wasnt until my final year of university that I decided that the deep sea where was where I wanted to be!

      The moral of the story is that you dont have to make these kinds of decisions until you are much older! Just enjoy school and feel out what you like the most so it’s easier to make that decision later on.

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