• Question: Have you always been good at science?

    Asked by Hannah to Anne, Arthur, Rose, Ruhina, Thomas on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Arthur Wilkinson

      Arthur Wilkinson answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      At school I would have said that I wasn’t good at science. However, once I started working with polymers I discovered I had some talent for it – funnily enough that was about the same time that my interest in science had begun to increase.

    • Photo: Anne Canning

      Anne Canning answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      Hi Hannah, I always got good grades in school. I found Chemistry at University more challenging, but I also enjoyed it a lot more so I put in lots of effort which helped me get better.

    • Photo: Rose Simnett

      Rose Simnett answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      I always enjoyed science and did well in school. I wouldn’t say that I’m a natural but I always worked hard and did lots of revision for exams.

    • Photo: Ruhina Miller

      Ruhina Miller answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      I always enjoyed science too and, for that reason put a bit more work into it and got good grades. I find some areas more challenging than others – but this is quite normal 🙂

    • Photo: Thomas Farrugia

      Thomas Farrugia answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      Hoi Hannah – I’d say that I did do OK at school. Since going through University I have definitely learnt that to be good at something you need to practise and keep at it.

      I’d say I’ve come together as a potential scientist during the last 1.5 years of my PhD – at the start I had less focus and was a bit clumsy when it came to experiments – I’d forget to collect an important piece of data or do something wrong and realize after I had done the experiment. So I think it’s always a learning process – especially when you’re doing something new.

      I quite like this quote by Calvin Coolidge, which I keep in mind when the going gets a bit tougher than usual:

      “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

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