• Question: When did you become a scientist?

    Asked by anon-192243 to Sophie, Simon, Obi, Kelly, Jessica on 2 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 2 Nov 2018:

      My first paid job as a scientist came a year after I did my first degree when I was 24 years old. Looking back, I think I’ve always been a bit of a scientist, since school. always interested in knowing how things work, then why things work, and then how to make things better or just know more.

    • Photo: Sophie Morse

      Sophie Morse answered on 3 Nov 2018:

      When I was playing outside as a child mixing mud with grass and making pies out of it. I felt like a scientist.
      When someone told me when I was 16 that there was a severe lack of women in science and engineering I thought, that is what I can and want to do.

    • Photo: Obi Umegbolu

      Obi Umegbolu answered on 3 Nov 2018: last edited 3 Nov 2018 12:20 pm

      I always had a million questions to ask as a child. All the different kinds of gadgets/people fascinated me and I was curious to know how things were built – I ended up dismantling and spoilt my first wristwatch when I was 7. This desire to learn more about people and everything around me increased over the years and I always felt like a scientist. I was motivated when faced with the opportunity to be part of a team that improve things, and even more motivated when I can help to create innovative solutions in school or at home.

    • Photo: Jessica Leung

      Jessica Leung answered on 4 Nov 2018: last edited 4 Nov 2018 6:05 pm

      I think during my university years I felt more of a scientist. I was able to focus more on a subject that I enjoyed and gain more knowledge on the areas that I didn’t know about. But then again, I don’t think there is a real answer to this. A scientist is anyone who is studying or having a good amount of knowledge on a certain area of science – so since school, you could say I was a scientist as I studied science.

    • Photo: Kelly Rushton

      Kelly Rushton answered on 5 Nov 2018:

      I got my first microscope for my 4th birthday! I still have it actually – and it still works – 30 years later! But I think I didn’t really feel like a scientist until I was doing my PhD and was doing research as my ‘job’. I watch my 2 year old daughter ‘doing science’ now though when she plays with sand and water and bits of mud in the garden!

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