Personal Experiences and Testimonials
I have far exceeded the goals i set for myself this year
My journey through science has been an extremely windy road where each new concept or field I am presented with is awe-inspiring and captivating, as if a shiny new object is waved in front of me. I entered university hoping to work with animals when I graduated, but got sidetracked by the wonder of genetics and immunology. As I had a new passion every week since graduating high school I thought I would try volunteering in a genetics and immunology laboratory to make sure this interest was not another phase. The experience of working in a laboratory and the concepts we were practically exploring was exciting and empowering. I was sure this was the direction I wanted to pursue.
To gain general knowledge of diseases and the impact on our bodies I began volunteering with the museum of human disease. In order to develop my communication skills and confidence, I signed up to initiatives that required this, including the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation which required the communication of cause and prevention of the cervical cancer to high school students and the community. I also frequently volunteer with the National Indigenous Science Education Program communicating science to school students through hands on science activities. Each of these experiences has, I believe, opened up many doors for me recently and will do in the future. At the end of my first year of university I had not begun any of these opportunities and was knocked back from summer research scholarships. I reapplied at the end of my second year with all of the above experiences on my resume. I received four scholarships, but only accepted two due to time constraints, a research and a summer school one. Despite this success, my knockbacks far exceeded my successful applications. In the year that I received four I had an excess of 10 unsuccesful applications. I am not an A grade student, I have had plenty of people discourage me in my career choices and yet I have now achieved more than I ever thought I would have as an undergraduate. All of the experiences have developed my knowledge and skills immensely. I encourage everyone to at least try engage in an extracurricular activity of some sort in the field you want to pursue. If you are not enjoying it or if it is a chore, it is probably a good indication that you will not enjoy a 30 year long career doing it, so try another path out! I have created this website in the hope that I encourage people to explore their career path and open yourself to some of the amazing experiences I have had. Give everything a shot, the worst they can do is knock you back! - Bree |
Follow your passionIt honestly took me two and a half years at university to pick my degree. Not one, but three universities and two partial degrees later, I’ve headed back to science. As the daughter of engineers, I naturally chose to focus on humanities in year 12 and took four unit English, dropping maths in the process, and with the exception of HSC Physics, I spent all my time with my head buried in novels and texts. My university transfer to science was gradual. I started out with arts; linguistics, French, politics and international relations, then trickled into environmental communication and finally took the leap into the Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Education at UNSW. I’m a passionate environmentalist and activist and I spend a lot of time talking to young people about climate change and I gradually came to realise the crucial part that scientific literacy plays in creating an informed group of young people who are aware of the facts and can make links between them and the need for social and behavioural change. As a self-confessed nerd, I’ve always listened to scientific commentators like Neil Degrasse-Tyson and Dr Karl and have always been fascinated in the world around me, it just took me a while to realise that my passion for understanding how things work and being able to create things was actually a love of science. I still get excited when I see a chemistry or a physics lab coming up on my timetable because it means I’ll get that hands on view of how really cool stuff happens. You may have your own hiccups along the way, I know I have, but always be aware of your passion for learning new things and understanding things work, that is, in fact, how things get done.
Finally and foremost, it's so incredibly important that you follow your dreams. I didn't want to look back in ten years in a job where I wasn't making the change I didn't want to be in the world, and that's why I changed to science. Don't ever think it's too late to make the right decision about your future. |
Review of Specific Opportunities
Macquarie University Summer Research ScholarshipAfter completing two years of my science degree, I recently participated in an ongoing project, with the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, at Macquarie University. This particular study centered around the effectiveness of fly attractants in our atmosphere, which is highly relevant to fruit and vegetable production and the detrimental effects that fly populations are causing on many of our crops. During the four weeks of my involvement in this project, I began to get a taste of what real scientific research is like.
I used my time to become familiarised with the various uses of UV-visible and IR spectroscopy; pulling apart data and analysing it from all angles, and most importantly, finding ways to solve tricky problems on my own. I found that independent research could be somewhat a long process, especially when small mistakes can sometimes have a significant impact on results obtained. I learnt that there is no better way to grow in an area of expertise, then learn from those mistakes. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working in the field of atmospheric chemistry, and it gave me such a great insight into what sort of work is involved. I highly recommend anybody that is interested in chemistry to get themselves into any kind of lab work experience that they can get their hands on, or even start their own little chemistry projects, because a little bit of experience can be invaluable, in regards to perspective and practical skills for life. - Jess Poulton University of New England Undergraduate Research Summer Schoolthis experience was a jam packed 5 day summer school. Each day comprised of motivational speakers from various fields in science and a step by step guide to approaching research, conducting research and becoming published. Above all I found the points brought up by the motivational speakers to be of greatest value. Each of these speakers illustrated the journey through our science career is a windy road with many bumps and abrupt turns. Not one speaker had planned to be in the position they had ended up in, but their interests and the opportunities that they had gone after led them to where they are. Furthermore, the DVC of the University of New England, Annabelle Duncan pointed out that in her second year she failed some of her courses. It wasn't until she had realised what her passion was and the direction she wanted to go that she started to excel.
This experience was very valuable and one i am very glad i attended. It is refreshing to meet like minded students, extremely passionate academics and researchers within your field. It wasnt until after this experience that I realised we seldom hear about the journey our lecturers take, and that their journey was most likely not an easy, straightforward path to success. Volunteering with a laboratory at universityI began volunteering in a laboratory as a first year student with little idea in what direction I wanted to go in science but an idea of what my general interests were. I was particularly enjoying a subject on genetics and was interested in what my lecturer was researching (this information is available on all researchers within a university). I built up the courage to ask the lecturer if i could obtain some work experience within his genomics and immunology laboratory.
During my time with this laboratory I have learnt various techniques from how to isolate DNA, RNA and protein and extract information that I required using numerous technoligies. The ability to carry out these experiments was extremely satisfying and highly addictive. The greatest thing I took away from this experience is, without a doubt, the reassurance it has provided me. I now know the field I am passionate about and want to work in. Having been a student who changed their career choices from policing, criminology, psychology and journalism to wildlife management, this was very refreshing. I am particularly greatful for this as I see many of my peers changing their majors and even degrees as they are about to commence their final year of study. I advise everybody to try and gain experience in a laboratory, as a volunteer, intern or summer scholarship researcher. working in a real laboratory is very different to the teaching laboratories we are used to. The experiments are way cooler and the satisfaction on completion is much greater. |
National Indigenous Science Education ProgramThrough NISEP, I have developed my leadership and communication skills by engaging the community in science through various science experiments. We have helped people tackle concepts such as the chemistry of dry ice, the wonders of DNA and even how to make elephants toothpaste!
This experience offers opportunities in urban and rural areas, working with indigenous students, students living in low socio-economic areas, refugees and various other backgrounds and experience levels. There has never been a dull moment whilst volunteering with NISEP and I have met a lot of wonderful, like minded people. My involvement with NISEP has been a fantastic opportunity that awakened me to new interests that I never thought I had. Educating the community about science and involving them in experiments that are representative of a career I love is very fulfilling. In particular, I realised how important helping aspiring scientists and my peers get to where they want to be is to me. I love providing advice on how to help possible paths to achieve your goals and sharing my own experiences. In fact, my involvement with NISEP and the realisation of my passion for aiding others has led me to creating this website. My experience gave me the courage and the inspiration to start my own project to help aspiring researchers like myself. - Bree Saint Vincent's Institute Summer StudentshipThis experience was amazing. I learnt so many new techniques and how to use different technoligies. I was able to isolate certain cells of interest then analyse them through flow cytometry. During these experiments, I quickly became aware that nothing works out the way you want it to. There were many failed experiments for reasons unknown or funny results. However, when things go right, you feel fantastic.
Whilst a 6 week placement sounds like alot of time, it goes very quick with little time to relax as there were alot of experiments and analyses to get through. Try and prepare by doing background readings before you attend the placement as the last thing you want to do when you get home after a full week of experiments is to read about it! By the end, I was doing experiments in my sleep. As well as doing background research, I advise that before you apply for a research scholarship in general that you gain some experience in a working laboratory. Laboratory classes within your degree are very different. This experience was stressful at times because I was so new to the theory and the practical work. Having some experience in a laboratory helped boost my confidence slightly and im very glad that I had been prepared in that way. Australian Cervical Cancer FoundationDuring my volunteering with this organisation, I was involved in doing school and community presentations about HPV, cervical cancer and the vaccination program. There is no set commitment time, emails just get sent out when an opportunity comes up. Every year in November they also host an awareness day as a one off volunteering event that you can be involved with. This opportunity is therefore perfect for people that do not want to commit to regular volunteering times.
Museum of Human DiseaseThe displays of organs and tissues affected by disease and the personal stories that go with them are very interesting. I particularly found the forensics section very interesting, showing the impact of bullet wounds to bone and flesh and the lungs of people who have been poisoned! It is advised that you must volunteer every two weeks, but they were fine with the limited hours I could offer. The position saw me aiding school groups who visiting around the museum and explaining the diseases further where I could.
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