• Question: what inspired you to become a scien

    Asked by erinmartin to Callum, Gina, Katie, Michelle, Sam on 14 Nov 2012. This question was also asked by laurabrend.
    • Photo: Callum Johnston

      Callum Johnston answered on 14 Nov 2012:

      Hey Erin, thanks for all the great questions in the chat earlier.

      I have been inspired by lots of things, my biology and psychology teachers at school were really good so that’s why I wanted to study the brain. And then I found out so many cool things about the brain at uni that I didn’t want to stop learning and I thought it would be really cool if I could make my own discoveries about how the brain works and what happens when it doesn’t work properly!

    • Photo: Gina Tse

      Gina Tse answered on 14 Nov 2012:

      Hi Erin,

      Well, I’ve always been a nosey/intuiative person always wanting to know why things in humans were the way they were. Growing up I would ask my parents lots of questions, a lot of which they couldn’t answer and instead would answer by saying, ‘Well if you do well in school, you could answer that question yourself!’.

      Initially I thought I wanted to be a medical doctor and did a lot of work experience in and around hospitals. I was luckily enough to meet not only doctors but those allied with medicine, pathologists, radiologists and so on. My supervisor at the time was an oncogenic surgeon, he operated on stomach and breast cancers, so that got me interested. During my time there I discovered cancer was on the rise and many people in the future will have been affected by cancer, whether getting it or someone close getting in. I saw a lot of patients and their relatives and it really stuck in my mind I definitely wanted to help “find a cure” for cancer.

      I didn’t get into medschool which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I got onto my course in biochemistry and genetics. The course was fantastic, it taught me why diseases happened at a molecular level, it answered all my questions indepth and taught me how to find answers to the questions I had. And like Callum said, I didn’t want to stop learning so that’s how I’ve ended up becoming a researcher!

    • Photo: Katie Howe

      Katie Howe answered on 14 Nov 2012:

      I always found science really interesting and I knew i wanted to be a scientist from when I was about 10. I didnt exactly know what kind of scientist though so I just kept on choosing to study more science until i had decided!

      I did Biology and Chemistry A-levels and I liked them both so I studied Biochemistry at university. At university I became interested in reproduction and also found that I really liked working in the lab and designing my own experiments. Thats how I ended up where I am now – working in a lab studying egg cells!

      Thanks for your question!

    • Photo: Michelle Linterman

      Michelle Linterman answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      Hi Erin,

      I have always loved biology, so I found it really easy to look for a career in science. But my biggest inspiration is actually my little sister, she has Crohn’s disease, which is a disease of her immune system. She was quite sick when she was younger, and there were some treatments that really helped her. These treatments changed her quality of life. It made me realise that science was so important for making the small discoveries that can lead to cures for real people, and this can really change their life. This inspired me to be a scientist, and to do the best that I can.

      Michelle

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