• Question: Have you ever imagined you would be where you are, say- 10 years ago?

    Asked by kristybryant to Alexander, Josh, Serena, Simone, Stuart on 17 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Alexander Munnoch

      Alexander Munnoch answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      10 years ago would put me in standard grades and loving all my subjects so… there was probably an arrogant/naive streak in me that would have said “If someone else can do it; why can’t I? / You can be whatever you want to be”.

      I reckon yeah.
      I loved the sciences at school, I had really good chemistry and physics teachers at school who seemed to know anything and everything and I wanted to be the same. The idea of doing large-scale science was something I could see myself doing: working with industrial processes and particle accelerators etc. I just didn’t have a clue what was actually involved in getting here – I’ve just enjoyed the journey and tried to make the most of the chances I’ve been given.

    • Photo: Simone Sturniolo

      Simone Sturniolo answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      Ten years ago I was about to begin my University. Back then, I had not imagined myself as a researcher – I thought that would be a hard job to get, so I imagined I could also just work as an engineer (that was the degree I ended up taking after all). But working with science and/or technology? Yeah, definitely. I already had a knack for this kind of things, so I had no doubt that would be the road I wanted to take!

    • Photo: Stuart Archer

      Stuart Archer answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      10 years ago I was in my second year at university doing Chemistry (the first time round at least!). When I started university I’d really wanted to be a forensic scientist (I watched too many crime programs on TV), but found out that it wasn’t really what I thought it was going to be. I certainly didn’t think I’d be back at university at 29 doing another degree! I definitely wanted to work in science though, I always knew I’d be doing something in a lab somewhere, so from that point of view I wasn’t a million miles off!

    • Photo: Josh Makepeace

      Josh Makepeace answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      I was probably a similar age to you 10 years ago! I was in year 10 at high school in Australia. So I’m pretty sure I had no idea that I’d be living in the UK in the future, or be lucky enough to do what I’m doing. I was pretty torn between following science and following drama at school, so I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell you what sort of work I’d be doing.

      Thinking about this question, I guess I’ve just followed doing things I really enjoy, and here I am – seems to have worked pretty well, as I’m happy doing what I’m doing 🙂

    • Photo: Serena Corr

      Serena Corr answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      10 years ago, I had just finished my degree in Chemistry and was about to start my PhD. I knew that doing further research in Chemistry was what I really wanted to do, but I would never have imagined that in the 10 years since I would have lived in three different countries and had the opportunity to do so many exciting experiments – and of course meet so many interesting people. I was nervous about moving away and life changing so much, but it has been very exciting and rewarding!

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