• Question: What would you say to young people who is not sure to do what you do?

    Asked by salma on 28 Jan 2022.
    • Photo: Valerie Vancollie

      Valerie Vancollie answered on 28 Jan 2022:

      Is it something that you would like to do? I think interest is the starting point and the most important. You can learn to do a lot of stuff, but if you’re not interested in it, then it can be really hard.

      But if you are interested, then I’d start looking at opportunities that are available. This could be anything from courses offered in the community or online (Future Learn, edX…), to site visits to places (during non-pandemic times places like the Sanger Institute have Open Saturdays), science festivals where you may be able to speak with scientists who work in the area you’re interested…

      While we have a general idea in society on what a scientist is and how to get there, the truth is that there are many paths. More places are now looking into apprenticeships and things like that which weren’t the case before.

      We also need more people with different backgrounds in science to keep ideas fresh and to ensure that we look at areas which might have been neglected historically.

    • Photo: Prabs Dehal

      Prabs Dehal answered on 29 Jan 2022:

      This is a really thoughtful question.
      Sometimes people seem to be in a hurry for young people to know what to do for the rest of their lives. But it’s not always obvious what is right. Some of the greatest scientists around now have had varied career paths, switching jobs as they go.
      Even if you make a decision you later decide is not right for you, that’s ok. You can can usually switch. I have friends who have done medicine, but have switched to lab jobs, and the other way around. I also know great scientists who decided to become lawyers, dentists, stay at home parents, teachers, a plumber and a dog groomer.
      You are always better off doing a job (or uni course) YOU enjoy instead of trying to do a job that suits others. Changing your mind is not failure, it’s evolution.

Comments

  • Photo: Chris

    Chris commented on :

    I work on applying maths to real world problems. This often comes as a surprise to young people who think that maths is completely useless. But without using maths in the discovery, design, testing and prediction process, we would not have any of our modern technology (including the vaccines).

  • Photo: Mercede

    Mercede commented on :

    Hi Salma,
    I was definitely in your position when I was choosing what I wanted to do for my undergraduate degree. So the first thing I would say is… try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Have a think about what you might want to do and what you might enjoy doing. I knew I wanted to go to university so I thought about which subjects I liked at school and took it from there.

    One thing I wish I knew earlier was: you can always, always change your mind. If you don’t like the degree or the university or the job you are in, you can change and do something else or go to a different University/company.

    I would also say, don’t be afraid to ask people to help you and also don’t be afraid to choose something that you really want to do, no matter what other people think! 🙂

    Good luck!!