Seminars and Future Plans
Seminars - A Look Back
So, by this point in the program, we've heard from scientists whose fields of study range from the influenza virus to complex traits and how they're formed. It's amazing how much one can do with a biology degree - and how much one can do with research!
What I liked about the seminars was finding out how people got to where they are today. This was something I could relate too, because I'm wondering where I'm going to be in 10 years (and how I'm going to get there!) For example, Dr. Benfey said he traveled around the world before finally going to grad school, and Dr. Noor revealed that he had a very mediocre GPA one semester from spending too much time in the radio broadcasting room. Most, if not all of these scientists, encountered a certain class or biological principle which really excited them and changed their views on science forever. That was really neat. And, they were all so normal; most were very approachable.
Sometimes, the stuff they were explaining was too much for me - hard to follow. This may be a clue for me that I don't want to go into their field of study. Still, though, I appreciated every one, because they all gave me insight on what it's like to be a PI/professor/full-time researcher in academia. I'm so glad these seminars were part of the Howard Hughes program!
What do I picture as my career?
Yikes, I really don't know. I would love to be involved in academia - I like universities. I think I'd really like to be a professor, too, because I love talking to people about what I know and helping them understand. I'm definitely planning a minor in Spanish since I love the language, but I also love English, so I'm thinking of minoring in English Lit/Linguistics/something. Hey, it's been done before (Post-doc at the Career panel). I know this blog assignment asked about careers and not majors, so... I guess I'll have to get back to you on that. Research is a lot of fun, but I'm not 110% sure it's for me. I think it is, but I'd like to dip my feet in for a little bit longer.
