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Snakes & Ladders Profiles of Women in Science and Stories of the Snakes and Ladders They Have Faced in Their Careers
Determination to Find Ladders
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There probably isn’t a person in the world who would not wish for a fair chance,
and an opportunity to succeed. In my time at University I was given the
opportunity to study Science, a subject that has intrigued me since I was a
little girl. I was 18, filled with ambition and my initial hurdle was my Science
degree, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was my first real taste of life’s lessons
and I soon realised that to get anywhere, you had to work hard. After all,
nothing worthwhile comes easily. During the last year of my degree I got
thinking about my future and what direction I was going to take.
I decided to sharpen my curiosity of what it would be like to work in a
laboratory as an honours student so approached a PhD student in one of the
Genetics labs and asked if it was
okay
to spend my spare time, in-between lectures, helping and observing her skills in
the laboratory. She was indeed chuffed to take on a starry eyed student who
appreciated any guidance. I spent the next few months assisting the PhD student
with her work as well as learning how to analyse data and results. Being in the
lab taught me a lot. It educated me on the importance of being organised and
developing skills and methods that are imperative in a laboratory environment.
Having gained these valuable lessons and, after giving it much thought, I
decided to do my Honours on completion of my Science degree.
Well the day had finally arrived. Graduation! What a proud day it was for the
next generation of budding scientists finally receiving our Bachelor Degrees in
Science, which we had worked so hard for. This degree would allow the young
eager graduates of 2002 to enter the world of fulltime work or continue with
further study ultimately leading to greater recognition in science.
After the graduation celebrations had ended, I was ready to take on my next
obstacle, which was my Honours year. I asked myself what I was passionate about
and what I found fascinating. I had always been an avid supporter of cancer
research, which inevitably led to my decision to aim to study the disease state
at the prestigious Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The next question was how I was going to get into such an esteemed institute? I
started out by researching and networking with the different research groups
within the organisation and worked out what area of cancer I was interested in
studying. A few weeks of emails had passed, back and forth from several group
leaders, before I finally received an email requesting to meet with me for an
interview. I remember it vividly as it was my first interview with real
importance. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, the interview didn’t go well
enough for me to get the position. In spite of missing out on this first project
opportunity, I found myself needing to be resilient and overcome this minor
setback. This was certainly one of the ‘snakes’ or challenges in science that I
faced and with that came not knowing what was going to happen next, or if in
fact, I would be awarded a position at Peter MacCallum.
After several weeks of networking and resourcing, I got a response from another
group leader who was happy to make an appointment to interview me and run
through the project he had in mind. Before I knew it, the phone rang and to my
delight it was my potential supervisor on the line. He was pleased to announce
that he would like to take me on as his Honours student in his laboratory. I was
thrilled with excitement and was overjoyed that I had achieved my goal. I was
now entering postgraduate MacCallum. This was my ‘ladder’ of opportunity and I
was going to go for it!
From this point on, it all moved very quickly and at our next meeting we were
discussing my project in detail. Working within the Cell Radiation Biology lab,
I studied a protein called metallothionein (MT), and its ability to act as a
radical scavenger.
My honours year was one of the best years of my life, why you ask? I learnt a
lot about myself and I matured along with becoming a responsible adult. I met
amazingly brilliant, highly intelligent and dedicated people, many of them
dedicating their lives to science.
Upon completing my project, I found the experience challenging but at the same
time immensely satisfying. I was lucky to achieve great results during this
twelve-month period. However, it was not long enough to gain considerable ground
in such a needed area of research. A PhD was offered to me and after pondering
my next move I decided against continuing postgraduate studies and embarked on a
career as a Research Assistant with a reputable Biotech firm. This company has
established leading technology capabilities for creating high value antibody and
protein/based therapeutics.
I am content with my current position and all that I’ve accomplished to get me
here. This is one small example of the ‘snakes and ladders’ metaphor and the
lesson I pass on is one of resilience and to be passionate in everything you set
out to achieve.
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