Why Did You Become a Scientist?
by
Update: To follow-up on the recent article by Prof. Teaster Baird, Jr. titled “Why Did I Become a Scientist?” we wanted to revisit an earlier post to ask ourselves this exact question. What was it that made you become a scientist?
It’s easy to understand why kids grow up and want to be a movie star, athlete or a rock star. The reported fame, fortune and excitement associated with these careers are hard to avoid these days and they even have “ordinary” people scrambling for a piece at any cost (see the Jon and Kate circus). However, excluding a few exceptions like CSI, “the scientist” is rarely celebrated in the mainstream media, perhaps due to the perceived lack of fame, fortune or excitement associated with the career.
Early on, kids are fascinated by science and are highly inquisitive. However as they grow older, around the middle- and high-school years, science is no longer cool. In fact, being bad at science is cool. Even as adults, someone you’ve just met at a dinner party will proudly exclaim “Oh my gosh, you’re a chemist? I got a D- in chemistry – it was so hard…”
By the time you get to the graduate school level, you’ve likely been going against the grain for a while.
So what was it that pulled you toward science…and kept you going? Over the years I’ve heard some amazing stories of what people did and sacrificed to pursue a career in scientific research. We believe it’s important to celebrate all of the reasons we love this profession!
Tell us your story.
alan@benchfly
wrote on July 21, 2009 at 3:42 am
My grandpa was a chemist who worked in the baking industry. He developed a compound called Verve (stearyl-2-lactylate) that when added to bread in the baking process dramatically improves the consistency, texture and flavor of bread. In fact, if you ate a piece of bread today, I'd be willing to bet your right arm that you enjoyed some Verve. My father is a professor and chemist as well. So growing up I was profoundly influenced by my family history and the realization that through science it was possible to make a real difference in society. After spending my first two years in college exploring the humanities side of life, it was clear that my head needed something more concrete to grab on to. After my first semester performing organic synthesis research, I was hooked. It required a delicate mix of creativity, determination and attention to detail that I found incredibly challenging. Throughout my scientific journey, the driving force has remained the same- I'm here to make a difference.
[email protected]
wrote on July 22, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I feel like I "stumbled" into science. I might be still "stumbling" in science now. But really, I was a first generation college student with no real idea of what I wanted to do as a career. I was intrigued with the zoology classes I took my first year of college and decided I wanted to major in it. While I was finishing my requirements for my degree people began to ask what do you do with a zoology degree, work at a zoo? At the same time I got a great opportunity to work in a research lab as a part-time job. I love the lab environment and the ability to put all of the science knowledge I had gained from reading books into real problem-solving and cool experimentation. I was hooked and am now continuing my science career as a graduate student! Although somedays I think the zoo may have been more fun or maybe not.
dayman
wrote on July 23, 2009 at 3:13 am
Well I certainly don't do it for the money. As a kid I loved puzzles and figuring things out, and that, combined with a level of comfort in science classes that my peers didn't share, made the decision to go to graduate school pretty easy.
What keeps me a scientist are those moments where you make a discovery that reveals some piece of knowledge that no one else has ever known. While infrequent, that sensation is unparalleled for me.
alan@benchfly
wrote on July 23, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Tell me you're not suggesting that the lottery-like $16K/yr payday I received my first year in grad school in San Francisco wasn't my primary motivator?!
dayman
wrote on July 27, 2009 at 3:05 pm
You must have been the wealthiest homeless person in the entire Bay Area!
dayman
wrote on July 24, 2009 at 3:18 am
With that salary, you must have been the richest of all the homeless in the Bay Area!
But seriously, sometimes I wish I had more money lust. That, combined with my [apparent] megalomania, would have made me a fantastic politician – at least as far as the bribes were concerned.
jen1
wrote on July 25, 2009 at 5:21 pm
I've always loved science. Read lots of science fiction as a child, and biology was always my favorite subject. I did entertain a dream of being an astronaut for a while, but I finally realized that my severe motion sickness might rule out space travel. I had a great experience as an undergrad working in a molecular biology lab for three years and really enjoyed it. My favorite class by far was zoology (kind of like Katie above), I had such a great time visiting research stations in the field and dissecting tons of things!
Dazor
wrote on July 27, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I guess for me it started as a child and is the way I can still feel like one. I always found it exciting to be outdoors admiring the scenery, trying to learn as much as I could about things I saw around. When I grew up I could not think of anything else I wanted to do other than science. What I like about being a scientist is that you are given the chance to constantly feel young. You get to learn as much as you want. You can ask a simple question, think of a way to answer it, and then perform an experiment to find out if you are right or wrong. Sometimes when I run an experiment, I go around the lab feeling like a little boy with a chemistry set that he just got.
JBG
wrote on July 12, 2010 at 11:39 am
I never lost my sense of wonder. Thanks to a high school biology teacher, I started reading journals like Scientific American and Popular Science. When I saw that new things were being discovered all the time it made me want to be part of the action, to make a contribution that would improve our world. Now I'm transitioning from the technology industry to teaching high school science. I hope I can be as good as those who inspired me.