• Question: Do you regret not doing what you wanted when you left school?

    Asked by Hannah to Anne, Arthur, Rose, Ruhina, Thomas on 15 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Rose Simnett

      Rose Simnett answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      Hi Hannah,
      In a word, no! I really enjoy what I do now, even though it’s not what I thought I’d be doing. I sometimes wonder how my life would be different if I’d carried on getting my climbing instructor certificate and started my own climbing school but I never regret anything. Everything you’ve done in the past, makes you who you are today.

    • Photo: Ruhina Miller

      Ruhina Miller answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      I’m also a no – I wanted to be a chemist when I left school, but I imagined myself being a pharmaceutical chemist. It wasn’t until I actually went into the industry that I decided it wasn’t for me and that another branch of chemistry/science may be better suited for me. What I’m doing now I enjoy a lot more. I learnt that what you want isn’t necessarily what you’ll be happy doing and by trying new things you end up discovering something that you like a lot more! 🙂

    • Photo: Thomas Farrugia

      Thomas Farrugia answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      Nope, purely because I was very keen on doing science when I left school. In all fairness I did want to take up something like chemical engineering, but quite enjoying my current work as well. Sometimes it’s also about identifying the elements that characterize what you want to do – say problem-solving, creating new systems, interacting with people, and finding a role that provides all of them, which science does (for me at least).

      If anything choosing to do science has provided me with loads of opportunities to meet great people, see new places and try new things. Since starting research I’ve taken up quite a bit of sport, which helps balance out all the thinking (and helps with it too!). If I had decided to stay back home in Malta I would be quite the different person, research facilities are a bit lacking, and it’s a similar situation in terms of activities and things to do.

    • Photo: Arthur Wilkinson

      Arthur Wilkinson answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      I really didn’t know what I wanted to do when I left school, so I can’t have any regrets about how things turned out.

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