What would you say to someone who wants to come a scientist?

Question: What would you say to someone who wants to come a scientist?
- Keywords:
  advice,
  career
Asked by anon-190786 to Matt, Maia, Lyndsay, Liam, Dionne, Brendan on 5 Nov 2018.
- Dionne Turnbull answered on 5 Nov 2018:
  
  I’d say go for it! There are so many types of science that you can get into, there is something for everyone. It takes a lot of studying and hard work, but it’s worth it for a job you love that never gets boring!
  
  I went to university to do a 4 year degree in Biology, specialising in Plant Science, then did a PhD – which was 4 years of research in a lab. When the lab work is done, you write it up as a book called a ‘thesis’. So it took 8 years of studying after I left school (more than that for me because I’d already done a different degree first…) my family called me the eternal student 😉 I now work as a research scientist in a university lab.
  
  But there are other ways to get into science that don’t take quite so long. Science can overlap with so many other careers too – art and design, writing/journalism, politics, business management… science is everywhere!
- Brendan Marrinan answered on 6 Nov 2018:
  
  Like Dionne said there are lots of types of science and it might take some time but you’ll find what it is that interests you. I work for an engineering company and we’ve got bridge engineers, railway engineers, geotechnical engineers (geologists), ecologists (animal and plant scientists), software modellers (computer scientists), and many more.
  
  If you don’t know what you want to do but you enjoy science just enjoy learning. I didn’t make up my mind what science to do until I was 21, but I enjoyed doing physics, chemistry and geography right through my GCSE’s and A-Levels.
- Liam Taylor answered on 6 Nov 2018:
  
  Always follow your heart and do things that are interesting for you! I was very similar to Brendan and kept choosing the subjects in school that I was most fascinated by. It’s very important to have a career you’re interested in. I actually studied Biology for a year at University before realising it wasn’t the right subject for me, so I transferred to Geography (which I loved at A-Level and GCSE) and was much much happier. There’s a famous phrase – do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
- Matt Bower answered on 7 Nov 2018:
  
  I’d say go for it – there are lots of interesting opportunities out there and chances to see amazing things. And nothing beats the satisfaction of finding out how or why something happens. There are lots of different sorts of scientists, so you can choose what you want to be. Need to work hard at school though…

Question: What would you say to someone who wants to come a scientist?

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