Question: Do you have any advice for students trying to figure out a career path? (not necessarily in the field of science)

Gemma Barron answered on 15 Nov 2015:

Hi @Libby,
Thank you for your question and hopefully I will be able to help give you some advice. So, I would say….do what you love, what you find interesting and also that brings a smile to your face. You will be working for the majority of your life (this is a scary reality that I’m finding hard to face but, it’s true!!) so you have to at least like your career to be able to get up in the morning and bounce into work (most days!). I really believe that you should not feel forced into doing what your friends are doing, if you’re not interested or if you don’t feel ready to go to university, don’t feel like you have to….everyone is different and you can go to university after you are travelled the world (where you might find you love travelling and make that your career) or have worked for a little bit and this will give you some on the job experience which is infavourable. I would also say that you should try to speak to as many people about how they got their job or chose their career path and that route might also work for you. Don’t regret anything that you choose to do as it will make you the person you are going to be in the future. I hope that makes sense. Thanks, Gemma