• Question: How did you get into science?

    Asked by Hi_it's_Teya to Anna, George, Jodi, Rob, Stefan on 11 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Jodi Schneider

      Jodi Schneider answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Hi Teya,

      I worked in a bunch of different fields before settling on science for good. I did insurance math, I sold books at an independent bookstore, and I worked as a science/web librarian. What I really like is making sense of lots of information — and explaining complex ideas to other people. In science, I get to do that all the time! I also like that my work helps people — by having better access to integrated information.

      -Jodi

    • Photo: Rob Appleyard

      Rob Appleyard answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Similar story to Jodi here. I studied science at university, but I’ve done plenty of different jobs outside of science between graduating and starting work where I am now. A couple of those are testing computer games and being a support guy for a technical computer program. This stuff mostly involving computers, but seeing as I work in scientific computing, that fits pretty well!

    • Photo: George Ryall

      George Ryall answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      I decided I really wanted to study Physics at university when I was 17, since then I’ve been hooked.

    • Photo: Anna Scaife

      Anna Scaife answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      I think the start of it all must have been at school. I always felt more confident in physics and maths than other subjects. That influenced my degree choice and then everything just went from there…

    • Photo: Stefan Lines

      Stefan Lines answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      An abstract answer to this would be that I didn’t get into Science, but rather it was a path that I followed – and I followed that path because it was interesting, or because of great people, or sometimes because I was good at it.

      That path took me from being interested in KS3, to picking subjects at GCSE that were more Science-ey. At A-Level, I decided to do Maths, Physics and Chemistry (with an AS in Further Mathematics). My teachers encouraged me to apply for University, and I ended up at Exeter. It was only here that I realised I wanted a career in academic Science research, rather than industry – which is why I am doing a PhD right now.

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