• Question: what inspired you to become what you are, have there been any major events which have completly changed your life??

    Asked by dandobe1 to Freya, Katy, Louise, Pamela on 18 Mar 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Louise Pendry

      Louise Pendry answered on 18 Mar 2010:


      Oooo – interesting question dandobe1!

      I have always been animal mad – I was collecting insects at the age of 6 (mum went mad as I had a bedroom full of ladybirds that I had collected in the school park and set free in my room). I even ended up at A&E once because a caterpillar nearly killed me (I am allergic to caterpillars but still collected them…)

      But I first really recognised how important animals are to humans when my parents divorced. I was 9 – 10yrs old and things were pretty awful at home because mum and dad were fighting so much. We had a family dog called Sheba and I used to take her and just escape from the house for ages. I loved that dog so much as I could tell her how I was feeling and she was never mad at me. Being with Sheba always made me feel happy again.

      Animals have that special ability – people with pets tend to be healthier – and if you have a pet you are much less likely to die from a heart attack! (There’s a whole lot of scientists actually studying the human-animal bond and the effects of animals on human wellbeing because it is so widespread). So my love of animals really came from experiencing how much animals can help us feel good again. Whenever I feel down and sad I always find spending time with animals helps. My dogs like it – they get loads of extra walks and cuddles!

      I think that’s why I want to help animals. Why should it be one-sided?!

      Getting into science came later. I didn’t even know that there were scientists that researched animal welfare until I was about 24 yrs old. Wish I had known sooner 🙁
      Do you like animals? Do you have any pets?

    • Photo: Pamela Docherty

      Pamela Docherty answered on 18 Mar 2010:


      When I was thinking about applying for university, I couldn’t decide whether to study languages or maths. My careers advisor gave me the excellent advice that I could learn languages wherever – I could just go and live in the country and learn to speak it by myself. Maths isn’t like that. I would give the same advice to you – remember that if you like Art or English you can paint or read as a hobby – it’s much harder to be an amateur scientist!

    • Photo: Katy Milne

      Katy Milne answered on 20 Mar 2010:


      I was never inspired to become an inspector for jet engines. Things kind of happened by accident. I picked Engineering at university because I liked the look of the university and the course. In my final year, I got an interview for my current job. After the interview (which had not made me feel like – yeah! Jet engine inspection), I walked past a busker. She was singing my head song: ‘It’s got to be perfect’. That really struck a chord with me. I was looking for change in my life. I had just split up from a longterm boyfriend and fallen for someone new (who I thought was perfect) and the job represented something really new and challenging. That is why I took it over my other options. I have had the best time for the last four years, but it really was an instinctive gut decision. I hope all my future decisions work out as well!

    • Photo: Freya Harrison

      Freya Harrison answered on 22 Mar 2010:


      I’ve been avoiding answering this question because it’s taken mem a long time to come up with an answer – it’s a really tough one. The thing that changed my career plans and made me want to become a scientist was doing A-level environmental science. I initially wanted to study politics (I have no idea why now!) but decided to keep up a ‘general’ science A-level because I was interested in it and I thought it would be useful. Within about a month I realised the course was so interesting and so much more rewarding than humanities-based subjects and I changed direction. This was down to the excellent teachers as well as the course itself, so they are a big reason why I became a scientist.

      Coming to university changed me a lot too. Suddenly being in an environment where everyone around me was keen and interested and where there was so much opportunity to learn and discover new things was amazing. Also school can be quite clique-y (wherever you are) and when I came to uni the atmosphere was different – everyone wanted to get to know each other and get along. It sounds corny but it made for a totally different social environment and I think I came out of my shell and gre up a lot because of that.

      But there haven’t been any huge life-changing events 😀 I think that in general you make your own luck by getting out and trying new things, seeing what’s on offer and what interests you. So it can be quite small, chance events – conversations with people, books, places you visit etc. – that send you off in a new direction or make you aware of a part of life you never knew existed.

Comments