• Question: did you good in school? if not how did you get up to where you are now?

    Asked by anon-308594 on 27 Jan 2022.
    • Photo: Samuel Ellis

      Samuel Ellis answered on 27 Jan 2022:

      I did get good grades in school in general, especially in sciences and maths. My results in arts and languages were pretty mediocre though, not my strong topics (weirdly they were my sister’s best subjects!)

      Even with good grades I did not get accepted into my top choice universities, but actually I ended up loving the degree I ended up doing and it led me into my current research career.

    • Photo: Chris Budd

      Chris Budd answered on 27 Jan 2022:

      I did well in maths and science, but not well in French and English. This was embarrasing as my mother was a French and English teacher. But it helps me to understand a bit why other people find maths and science hard.

    • Photo: Melanie Krause

      Melanie Krause answered on 30 Jan 2022:

      Hi 🙂
      I did good in school, but probably not good enough to get into UCL right away where I did my PhD. I went to a teaching focussed University for my Undergraduate degree and did lots of internship programs abroad which was A lots of fun and B looked really good on my CV when I applied for my PhD program. And I also had very good grades at Uni.
      I’d say even if you don’t think your grades aren’t amazing at the moment that doesn’t mean you can’t become a great scientists and go to a fancy Uni… and even if its not a fancy Uni.. you can still be great at science. The prestigious labels are a bit overrated (just don’t tell Oxford and Cambridge 😉

    • Photo: Mercede Lee

      Mercede Lee answered on 3 Feb 2022:

      I did okay in school and undergraduate, I definitely could have done better if I learned how to study better.

      I got to where I am now (a research assistant and flow cytometry facility manager) partly because of luck but mostly because I worked hard and worked my way up. I looked for opportunities that I was excited about and also did not push myself to continue with a path that was not right for me. Since then I have been learning what my strengths are. So, I try to go for opportunities that will allow me to do what I really enjoy, and also develop in a way that will allow me to achieve my life and career goals.

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