• Question: When did you decided you wanted to be a scientist??

    Asked by jessica141 to Jen, Jill, Mel, Phil, Stef on 12 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by adamnahum2013, abovethenoise04, charlo123.
    • Photo: Jennifer Paxton

      Jennifer Paxton answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      I don’t really know…..it just sort of happened! 🙂 I loved science in school and did my University degree in a science subject. I just really enjoyed finding out how things worked, especially the human body, and just kept going at University to do a masters, then a PhD. There are lots of other things I could’ve done (musician was my other choice!) but I liked the challenge of science and that there is always something new to learn.

    • Photo: Stefan Piatek

      Stefan Piatek answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      Hmm, I knew that I liked science and biology but it must have been during my degree that I found out that I wanted to be a scientist. I was lucky enough to randomly choose my degree with a “year in industry”. For me, this meant that I spent a year in sunny Marseille, in the south of France doing research on the awesome-named “natural killer cells”.

      I think it was because of this year in the lab that I decided to become a scientist, applying for a funded Masters and PhD programme. Thinking about it though, I’ve always been fascinated by life and biology at A level was really mind blowing, so it seemed like a really interesting way to help people.

    • Photo: Phil Rice

      Phil Rice answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      I think it was during my O-levels when I found chemistry and biology really interesting. Or maybe it was because of a fantastic chemistry teacher when I was 13 years old, Doc Smith was his name, who made the subject come alive with all sorts of practical demonstrations. It is because of him that I can still recall, even now, the first line of the Transition metals (Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn)! Strange but true. Thanks.

    • Photo: Jill Magee

      Jill Magee answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      When I was in Primary 7 we did a small science project to do with space. That captured my interest. Then in High School I chose all three sciences as I couldn’t pick which one I liked best! In the end Physics and Biology won – I had some great Physics teachers who made the topic sound really interesting and fun. So I reckon it was around 3rd year at school that I realised I wanted to study science and win a nobel prize!!!

    • Photo: Melissa Brereton

      Melissa Brereton answered on 13 Mar 2013:

      When I was asked at school what I wanted to be when I was older, it was never a scientist! I just fell into this job. I really enjoyed science when I was at school and always wanted to be a vet (but my silly careers advisor told me I wasn’t good enough)! So I continued to study science at university and ended up here!

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