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Asked by Mary K on 4 Oct 2024. This question was also asked by wage520paps, Sonny Isbister.
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Martin McMahon answered on 4 Oct 2024:
No, even though I was always interested in science my first choice was to be a soldier (random, I know right). I became a scientist after going to university when the army didn’t work out for me.
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Michael Schubert answered on 4 Oct 2024:
Well, it was always one of my plans! I first decided to be a scientist when I was four years old. I wanted to be a geneticist because I thought it was a job that would be part-scientist, part-doctor (and so it was!).
But I have also wanted to be a lot of other things: a palaeontologist, a writer, a dentist, an actor, a doctor, and much more. In the end, I’m a scientist and a writer, so I got to do more than one of my dream jobs!
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Liam Herringshaw answered on 10 Oct 2024:
No, I didn’t like GCSE Science very much. It was only when my A-Level Geography teacher told me I should study Geology that I discovered the idea of becoming an Earth scientist.
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Rachael Eggleston answered on 14 Oct 2024:
I didn’t, no! For a good while I thought I wanted to be a librarian.
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Luke Fountain answered on 21 Nov 2024:
My first choice has always been to be an astronaut. That seems unrealistic, and is certainly a difficult job to get, if not the most difficult. So I made it my goal very early on (when I was in high school) to become a scientist that contributes to human space exploration, so that even if I never make it as an astronaut, I will be as close as possible to supporting space exploration, and it will only strengthen my future astronaut applications. So in a sense, the job I have now is the job I have always worked for, and certainly one of my top choices.
Comments
Andrew M commented on :
No, it only really developed at secondary school. In many respects what I wanted to be was a historian, but history at school and what history likely is wasn’t what I thought it to be – my idea of what history was like is far closer to myth, story or romance than the far more serious discipline it is (I had a friend at uni who studied 9th century Frankish tax polices for years, about as far from my dreams of history as it’s possible to be). Happily I discovered Science was, and is, an acceptable alternative – just enough narrative and the dream of changing the world. But I would have to admit I still spend my holidays and a good number of weekends wallowing in the romance of the past like a pig in muck.
Martin M commented on :
Pretty much so… I’ve always enjoyed science since primary school. High school reinforced that and showed me I was good at it. So I followed that path in university. The decision whether to do science while working for a company or do it for myself as an academic was made during my undergraduate degree as I worked for BP in the Grangemouth Refinery during the summer vacation and didn’t like being told what to do. I wanted a job where I could make my own decisions about what I did. So I became an academic research scientist in a university.
hannahf commented on :
Yes for me, but I don’t think this is the same for everyone! I was always interested in science subjects at school and wanted to know why and how things worked, and what happens when you mix things together (yes I am a chemist now). I didn’t really know which of Biology and Chemistry science I liked the most until sixth form though. I also didn’t like practical lab work, especially at school, but I really enjoy this in my job now as research is very different to school. I also loved English literature but didn’t think that would be a career for me. Interestingly it kind of uses the same analytical skills as science! I always loved reading and music, but enjoy these more as hobbies.
Kirsty L commented on :
No, it happened by accident
Tim C commented on :
No, 30 years ago I was working as pottery caster on a factory but went back to college to redo my qualifications at night school and ended up really enjoying computer science as I’d always had an interest in technology. From there I applied to University and studied Business Information Technology and the rest, as they say, is history!