• Question: Was it hard to become a scientist?

    Asked by selinamackemsley to Jennifer, Jonathan, Katie, Michael, Ollie, Omar, Rebecca, Rebecca, Sarah, Tim.M on 5 Feb 2018.
    • Photo: Rebecca Dewey

      Rebecca Dewey answered on 5 Feb 2018:

      I don’t think it’s hard – but you do need to persevere. You need to be able to motivate yourself to keep working at something even if you’re bored of it or don’t want to do it. It takes quite a long time and if you don’t have this discipline, it can be hard to find the motivation. But I wouldn’t say it was an intrinsically difficult process.

    • Photo: Tim Millar

      Tim Millar answered on 5 Feb 2018:

      You need the qualifications and the knowledge and the interest, but there are lots of scientists and lots of scientific jobs. There alre also lots of jobs that need science but might not be thought of as being a scientist.

      There is dedication in any field and career, if you want to be the best athlete you train hard, if you want to play the piano you practice many hours. Whatever you choose there will be times when things are difficult and hard so you have to really want to do it. Have the interest, the dedication and the enjoyment, and the hard parts will opnly be small parts of what you do. Ypou can always change direction later on as well as there are many roles in science. Some are face to face with the public, some in the lab, some mixed, some in advertising, selling equipment, working with or for government.

      Its also global so you can do your science just about anywhere. its easier if you are the best in your subject but that also comes with pressure to keeo that success going.

      So, is it hard? It can be but if its your passion, somthing you are good at and can make a difference, then sometimes its worth the struggle.

    • Photo: Sarah Finnegan

      Sarah Finnegan answered on 6 Feb 2018:

      I totally agree with Rebecca, its a lot about sticking with a topic even when you really want to stop and motivating yourself to work through problems on your own. Then when you do make progress on something you’ve been stuck on for ages it is incredibly rewarding. So its not necessarily hard to become a scientist if you are willing to focus!

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