As you mature
and experience new things, your goals for the future often change. Looking
back, I have changed my mind a number of times about my career plans for the
future. Yet, many of my choices related to science in some way.
This is
probably due to some of my early childhood memories with my Grandpa McCarthy.
He taught my brother and me about astronomy with his telescope, watched the
original Star Wars with us thousands of times let us mess around with his
radio, and took us on trips to the Air Force Museum. I didn’t realize it at the
time, but the time we spent together helped spark my interest in science.
Here are my
previous and current science-related career goals:
Preschool
I loved Snow
White (which I also watched with my Grandpa many times). At that time, I wanted
to be the Wicked Queen when I grew up. Even though she was the villain, I
thought she was cool. She had a “lab” where her “chemistry experiments”
resulted in magic potions.
Kindergarten
I remember
dressing up as a medical doctor for a “what do you want to
be when you grow up?” day in kindergarten, since I liked helping my
“sick” baby dolls and stuffed animals with my toy medical kit.
Y2K
When I was 11
years old, I saw Coyote Ugly with my friend Casey. We decided we were going to
start our own bar like in the movie. Bartenders often use scientific techniques
to make creative cocktails and mixology uses physics and chemistry to
understand the properties and interactions of different drink ingredients. Read more about this in "Physics in the Mix: Bartending Gets Scientific."
Jr. High
At this time, I
enjoyed math and science. I liked learning about algebra, learning about marine
biology in the Bahamas, and studying wildlife on camping trips. I also liked
working in groups and helping tutor other students. Thus, I decided that I
wanted to be a math or science teacher.
High School
With my
interests in math, science, and helping others, I started to consider healthcare
professions. After job shadowing an optometrist, I considered going to optometry school. It was interesting to learn about the different things involved in this field, from vision testing, caring for patients with eye diseases, examining the eye using special cameras, and more In this profession, I could use biology
and physics to help people with vision problems.
College
Although I
started college with a goal of getting into a post-graduate optometry program,
I changed my mind after working in a biochemistry laboratory. I realized that I
liked doing research and experiments, and my favorite courses were biochemistry,
molecular biology, and organic chemistry. With encouragement from my mentors, I
applied to graduate programs in biomedical research to pursue a career as a
scientist.
Graduate School
While I was
doing my thesis research, I realized that I didn’t want to become a principal investigator
and run my own lab. I found what I enjoyed the most was writing about my work
and creating scientific presentations. Additionally, I took a course called “Careers
in Science Communication,” and realized that this field integrated my interest
in scientific knowledge and passion for writing. As I finished up my graduate
work, I decided to pursue a career as a science writer.
Current
Position as a Science Writing Fellow
I am continuing
to work towards my goal of becoming a science writer by gaining experience in
science communication. I love the work that I am doing as a fellow, such as
writing blogs, drafting tweets, interviewing scientists, and more. If you want to learn more about my fellowship program, go the National Cancer Institute Health Communications Internship Program (HCIP) Website.
