• Question: When you were younger did u want to be a scientist or did your mind change as you got older?

    Asked by anon-188261 to Pizza Ka Yee, Paul, Nadine, Alex on 15 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Alex Reid

      Alex Reid answered on 15 Nov 2018:

      Hi Ava, no I didn’t always want to be a scientist. I have always really liked science but I never even really considered it as a career option until later. I never thought I was ‘smart’ enough to be one. At different points in my life I have wanted to be different things. This includes being a special effects artist for horror films or a paramedic! (I am not very consistent…) As you go through life a good strategy is to 1. Make the most out of good opportunities that come your way, and 2. Be intellectually curious. I have tried to do both of these things, and I have been lucky to follow my interests throughout my career and education. As I grew up more I became more interested in the mind (psychology) and eventually this led to a more specific interest in sleep and memory. That has led me to where I am today. I think it is okay to change your mind about things, particularly as you grow older, develop and experience new things. You should never feel pressured to ‘be’ one specific thing or a type of person forever! Also remember, just because you have a job in something doesn’t mean you can’t have other things as an interest. For example, I am a science fan in general and enjoy reading news about all sorts of things. You don’t need to be a scientist to do this 🙂

    • Photo: Paul Matusz

      Paul Matusz answered on 15 Nov 2018:

      Hey Ava,

      Great question. Short answer – I’d have never thought I’d be a scientist when I was younger. I liked reading, learning about different animals across the whole globe, but also playing video games and spending a lot of time outside playing (especially riding on inline skates!). So I was a bit geeky, but also very physically active, and generally just spent time on doing the things I liked , and did my homework not to get into trouble. I used to listen to a lot of different music, had an adventure with art (even graffiti for a short period of time, oops!), and if a topic at school triggered my interest, I’d go deep into it. I think I was what they call “smart but lazy”. I have always followed my passion(s), and there were many of them throughout my short life, and only made sure not to have too much trouble at school, as I knew/ expected this could one day prevent me from pursuing one of those passions more seriously / professionally. There are many routes to science – but they are laid out with person’s passion for something specific.

    • Photo: Nadine Mirza

      Nadine Mirza answered on 16 Nov 2018: last edited 16 Nov 2018 1:52 am

      Great question Ava! Oh how I have flitted back and forth before settling on science!
      The first thing I ever wanted to be was a writer, which was something I decided at 5. I was big on writing the most random fanciful stories and forcing my parents to read them (my most popular story in that they made the most fun of it when I got older was about a pig that could lay gold eggs and fly).
      I stayed committed to the idea of being a writer and then somewhere around 13 or 14 I started thinking about psychology. I can’t really pinpoint where the interest started but it did- though at that time I was very specifically imagining working with patients of mental health difficulties. During my teens it became a tug-of-war between becoming a psychologist or becoming a lawyer actually. It was very closely split and the tie breaker eventually became seeing what people needed the most. I had moved to Pakistan by this time and I could clearly see they had quite a few lawyers but no where near enough psychologists (for every 1 psychologist there’s 10,000 patients because of the large population!)
      So I decided to stick to psychology but I didn’t think I’d study it as a scientist until after I did my undergrad and I was trying to figure out what were the best options for me career wise. All the signs and advice from mentors and such guided me towards scientific research of psychology.
      My mind has definitely been evolving as I’ve grown, weighing the different choices for a career and obviously as you get older you get more and more information to inform your choices. So whereas at 18 I knew I wanted to be a psychologist, at 21 I knew I wanted to be a clinical psychologist and at 23 I knew I wanted to be a researching clinical psychologist.
      And now, at 24, I’ve settled on a researching clinical neuropsychologist and science writer.
      Honestly, who knows how many more words I’ll add to this job description in the next few years- I can’t be trusted!!!!

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