• Question: Why did you pick Chemistry over the other sciences?

    Asked by to Ben, Emily, Hattie, Jemma, Veronica on 18 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Harriet Aitken

      Harriet Aitken answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Hi Immi2000,

      I really loved all the sciences but I found chemistry dipped into just about everything. Not only did it cover bits of biology and physics, but there are also lots of big chunks of maths and a little bit of computing depending on what you end up doing.

      It also opens so many different career paths for you, I started out at University doing chemistry, then switched to chemical engineering where I applied the science to practical things like design of a oil and gas platform. Other people in my research group are a mix of engineers and chemists and they do a wide range of things, including producing a new energy efficient type of concrete to the production of fuel from bugs.
      Hattie

    • Photo: Veronica Celorrio

      Veronica Celorrio answered on 18 Jun 2014:

      Hi Immi2000!

      I didn’t really pick up Chemistry, I am an chemical engineer as a background…but I always liked Chemistry and ended up researching in Chemistry. So, you never know what’s best to study, and at the same time means that even at some point you chose something wrong, there is always a way backwards!

    • Photo: Ben Butler

      Ben Butler answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Hi Immi2000,

      I’ll be honest, I really didn’t like chemistry until year 11 when it all started to make sense with help of a brilliant chemistry teacher! Once I started understanding chemistry, I realised that the subject was really logical once you got the hang of it and it made it all the more interesting.

      There are overlaps of all three science subjects though. So although I am a chemist, I still have to keep on top of my biology and physics to help me along the way.

    • Photo: Jemma Rowlandson

      Jemma Rowlandson answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Hi!

      It was actually a really tough choice. When I was choosing my degree it could have been either physics or chemistry. I liked both and I was much better at chemistry, but I really loved studying some parts of physics.

      In the end I went for chemistry. I realised that the parts of physics I really loved, like all the space stuff was only one small part. There was lots of other stuff, like circuits which I actually didn’t like that much.

      Chemistry on the other hand, I pretty much liked everything and I also found it a lot easier. This was actually a really good choice. When I got to University we got to choose a couple of the courses we did. This meant I was able to do a couple of physics courses in the stuff I really loved, and I could still do chemistry, a subject I liked and was really good at! The best of both worlds.

    • Photo: Emily Hayward

      Emily Hayward answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Great question Immi2000!

      I found it a really tough choice to make…..at school I did all 3 sciences and it wasnt until I went to uni that I had to make the choice of which to do. I found Chemistry slightly more interesting than physics or biology, but also it contains a lot of physics and biology so I wasnt really missing out by doing it. As I’ve done more science I’ve realised its not as simple as 3 seperate sciences…..they are all linked and most people who are chemists wont do every area of chemistry, and might do parts of the other sciences – for example I mainly work with materials which means I do some chemistry and some physics and maths too as I try to work out whats going on, but also little bits of biology with bacteria and algae growth.

      I guess primerally I chose it as its what I was best at, but kinda do a bit of everything too!

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