• Question: Is it hard to become a scientist?

    Asked by MLGderfllub to Alison, Hannah, Jonny, MarthaNari, Paul on 15 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Jonny Brooks-Bartlett

      Jonny Brooks-Bartlett answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      Let’s put it this way – the only difference between a scientist and say an Eastenders fan is that while the Eastenders fan watches TV, the scientist may read a science book.

      It’s only hard to become a scientist if you don’t enjoy doing science. If you love science and you realise that in some of your spare time you’d rather learn a science fact than watch TV or play computer games, then you have what it takes to be a good scientist.

      A scientist is no smarter than your teacher or your parents. I just have knowledge about science whereas an Eastenders fan will beat me hands down in a quiz about Eastenders.

      So no it’s not hard to become a scientist if you know you love science 🙂

    • Photo: Martha Havenith

      Martha Havenith answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      Funny enough, I think in a way you don’t become a scientist so much as you ‘grow into’ one: You start out studying a subject you enjoy, do some lab projects and find something you really like getting your teeth into, learn some techniques to help you do that… and after a few years suddenly you realize that you’ve become what other people call an ‘expert’.
      So becoming a scientist is only hard in the sense that you always have to keep learning and growing. That’s a wonderful thing though! It’s not hard in the sense that you have to wake up tomorrow and be a genius at chemical equations or something. As Jonny says, the most important part is to get into something you find really exciting. Unlike him, it took me longer though to realize that I liked science. My family is full of artists so science wasn’t really ‘something you do’ when I grew up. In school I liked maths and music, then I started studying psychology because it was ‘between arts and sciences’, and only then did I notice how much I enjoyed discovering things. So if you don’t feel the calling yet, it may come. 🙂

    • Photo: Alison Whitaker

      Alison Whitaker answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      With lots of professions, it can be hard work sometimes, but it is definitely worth it if you are doing something you enjoy. I didn’t think I would be a scientist, I just studied what I found interesting and applied for jobs I thought sounded interesting.

    • Photo: Paul Brack

      Paul Brack answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      I think it’s as hard as it is to become anything else really – if you’re good at science, you’ll be able to become a scientist if that’s what you want to do.

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