• Question: What have you all ways wanted to be

    Asked by anon-252550 to William, Wei, Tony, Sophie, Siddharth, Melissa, Melanie, Ella on 4 May 2020.
    • Photo: Wei Xun

      Wei Xun answered on 4 May 2020:

      Hi, what a lovely question to answer!

      I think I always just wanted to do something useful, and to bring something positive into the world. I was good at science so I followed it into a career but I was never big on specialisation. I have just realised in the last couple of years that I really enjoy thinking about things deeply and trying to make sense of them. So now I am deciding if I should lean more towards philosophy and art, I still don’t know!

      If you are thinking about a career in science, my advice will likely to go against most other people’s, which is to start quite vague. It’s okay not to be dead-set upon a particular specialty from the start, if it suits you to explore a wide range of topics and fields, to get a taste of them then decide to put more time and energy into what you enjoy doing.

      I wish you the best of luck for the future!

    • Photo: Melanie Krause

      Melanie Krause answered on 5 May 2020:

      Thank you for this wonderful question :).
      Initially I wanted to decorate cakes when I was maybe 4. That is the earliest job wish I can remember, but my mother told me people who work in bakeries get up very early and that was not for me. Then I wanted to be an architect and my dad said I needed better grades in Maths.. but since I was 12 I wanted to be a biomedical scientist because I wanted to help in finding ways to cure diseases and thats what I stuck with.
      If I didn’t do that I would probably be a journalist because I’m also really interested in the news and politics but I’m very happy with my choice.. plus you can also be a science journalist :).

Comments

  • Photo: Soudi

    Soudi commented on :

    Great question indeed.
    I always wanted to do something with “genes”, since I was 12-13 years old. However, the more I grew up the more I wanted to be a useful member of the society. Eventually, being a molecular biologist/geneticist I think I have fulfilled my dream of contributing to the scientific society. I still have. along way to go though.
    I did have a dream as a kid though! I wanted to be an electrical engineer. I was so fascinated by wires, light bulbs and mechanical things. However, due to a bit of shortcomings in Math and Physics I decided to go for my next in line passion! 😉
    However, what hasn’t changed for my entire life is that: I always always wanted to be ME. I never followed or idealised too much, I wanted to do well within my own capacities and to push myself based on me not anyone else 🙂