• Question: When and why did you choose to become a scientist?

    Asked by anon-233435 to Varun, Sammie, Rebecca, Anna, Alin, Adam on 11 Nov 2019. This question was also asked by anon-233320, anon-233559, anon-233583, anon-232891, anon-232901, anon-232890, anon-232895.
    • Photo: Rebecca Shaw

      Rebecca Shaw answered on 11 Nov 2019:

      When I was choosing which degree to follow my options were between Law and Biology. I actually got an unconditional offer for Law, but had to work harder to obtain my place for Biology at University. I think this was the moment where I chose to work for something and that showed I was passionate about it and knew I wanted to follow that career path! I am still interested in law, and during my Masters I studied policy and legislation of animal science too!

      Why I chose it, is a broad question because there was no definitive reason. I liked the subject at school, was interested in nature, the environment and how the body worked. I volunteered for several conservation and nature organisations, met loads of inspirational people here and during my education years and followed a route into research!

    • Photo: Varun Ramaswamy

      Varun Ramaswamy answered on 11 Nov 2019: last edited 11 Nov 2019 9:32 pm

      Back in school, I was always curious about everything I learned. I was the kid who always asked questions and never stopped wondering. But just after school, during my first year at college, I realised that I can’t get all the answers just by asking people or even by searching on google. Sometimes, no-one in the world knows the answer and someone needs to work to find the answer out. I wanted to be that person who worked to find answers, and that person is a scientist.

    • Photo: Samantha Firth

      Samantha Firth answered on 12 Nov 2019:

      I was always found science interesting but i also loved history. When I chose my A-Levels, I picked biology, history, classics and english. I had spent the whole summer umming and ahhing about whether to do humanities or science. On my first day, i went running into the admissions office saying i just HAD to change history to chemistry. They said the classes were full but i wouldn’t leave until they found me a space! So i almost didn’t end up doing science at all! I’m so glad I did though because i’ve always been curious – i’ve always asked questions and wanted to know why and how things happen. And science is a great area to be in for that!

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