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

    Asked by kat19x to Hermine, Katy, Laura, Nathalie, Paula on 14 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by khughes08, becky1997.
    • Photo: Katy Mee

      Katy Mee answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      I was always much more interested in science and geography than i was in arts subjects, although i enjoyed them at school as well. I didn’t always want to be a geologist though! I don’t think i even knew what one was until I started my degree and I only chose that degree because I got to go on lots of fieldtrips and the volcanoes and earthquakes soundsed like something exciting to study!

    • Photo: Nathalie Pettorelli

      Nathalie Pettorelli answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi there,

      I didn’t know what I wanted to do exactly until 18-19 or so – but I did know early on that I was interested in biology, nature, animals, and environmental problems. I also knew early on that I love travelling & international networking, and I’ve always loved writing – so I knew early on about what I liked, and I discovered later on the job that involves everything I like to do
      Have a great day
      Nathalie

    • Photo: Laura Dixon

      Laura Dixon answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      No, when I was younger I wanted to be a veterinarian. As I got older and started volunteering at vet clinics I realized that there were things you had to do as a vet that I wasn’t ethically ok with, like putting healthy animals to sleep because their owners can’t care for them anymore or ear clipping and tail docking animals (this was in Canada where it is still legal, but its not in the UK). I knew I wanted to help animals, so after some research into different university programs, came across Animal Welfare Science. It’s definitely the right field for me and l love my work 🙂

    • Photo: Hermine Schnetler

      Hermine Schnetler answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      I always knew I wanted to do something in which I can use sceince, mathematics and technology.

    • Photo: Paula Salgado

      Paula Salgado answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi Kat

      Hmmm, no… As a kid I liked lots of different things – science included – and found it hard to make a choice. I always wanted to be an actress but thought that was a hard career choice… So when it come to a more “serious” choice, I changed my mind many times: from architect to lawyer to historian to designer to advertiser…
      I was doing the equivalent to GCSE so I was prepared to become an architect. Then, I had to spend a year studying in Guine-Bissau, in Africa. School there had a different curriculum so I took biology and was taught about heredity and genes and became fascinated with the subject! That was it, I was hooked!

      When I come back to Portugal to do my A levels, I decided I wanted to have the possibility to do either architecture or biochemistry – see, I still hadn’t made up my mind! I also still dreamed of being an actress.. In the end, I decided I could do science (biochemistry) as my main job and acting as an amateur. So, I did my degree in Biochemistry and started a drama group in my University. From there to becoming a structural biologist and coming to England is another long story…

      Chance did have a bit to do with the fact that I’m a scientist – but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. It just took a while to find out what I love doing the most amongst all the subjects I found interesting at school. I’m glad things worked out this way – I love doing science! 😉

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