I love your blog and your research is so interesting aahh!! How did you know grad school was for you rather than med school? (Esp because your specialty is in biological sciences). Im a premed freshman but im already seriously doubting going to med school, but im also not sure if i have enough intellectual guts for STEM grad school (specifically in the bio/neuroscience area). You're obviously super busy, I understand if you don't respond, i'll still love your blog anyway :)
Hey there! And thank you! <3
Ahhh the age old question. I did actually go through my entire childhood/teenage years aiming for med school bc hey, i’m interested in human health, so what else is there besides being a medical doctor right? and my parents were delighted at the idea so they never told me about any alternatives.
and then i got to college, realized my grades probably weren’t up to par for med school, but still kept at it. it really was when i started volunteering at a hospital and shadowing physicians that i realized… oh man i’m not meant for this! i’m a bit too introverted to be able to interact with patients like this all day every day. so i bounced around some other career trajectories, and then after graduating, got hired as a lab tech/manager at a cancer research lab. that’s when i really started loving scientific research, and learned more about the option of a PhD through my PI and the other grad students i worked with.Â
and if you’re interested in a STEM field, go for it. if you want to see what it’s like working in a lab, volunteer in one during college (just email one of your professors who has a lab. never hurts to ask! most professors at research universities love undergrad volunteers!). the best advice for finding a career path is to experience it. something that sounds great on paper may not feel great in person, and vice versa.Â
and any scientist will tell you that success in science really isn’t a matter of how smart you are. it’s about perseverance, creativity, a natural curiosity, and passion. you have to really love what you do when you go into lab for that 3 am time-point. you have to be able to think outside the box when it comes to solving some of today’s scientific challenges. you have to always be wondering, always daydreaming and questioning and diving into the literature for answers. your academic performance is definitely 2nd priority to your ability to think and work as a scientist. so if you have those four traits, you’ll succeed in science.Â
so, if you’re interested in bio and neuroscience, you should go for it. read about the subject and take classes to feed your brain so you can wonder more. find a lab and join. see what it’s like. and if it feels right, pursue that goal with dogged determination, and you’re going to do great.Â
let me know if you have any other ques! i’m never ever too busy to respond <3
