Question: Can you please tell me why you decided to be a scientist?

Cheryl Andisi answered on 18 Jan 2017:

@abtb355
Thanks for asking this.
Growing up, I did not know that i could be a scientist. I thought scientists were old mzungus with white beard and lab coat, something I had seen mainly in movies. I probably never thought of it as a career because I knew movies were fictional- it was just acting! One thing I knew though was that I enjoyed science subjects. In high school, even though my favorites in terms of class performance were chemistry and Art, I loved Biology. And specifically the “human and animal studies”. Not the plant side of things. I enjoyed studying how our bodies work, how we move, what happens to the food we eat-sigh-it is hard not to love such a subject!
After my KCPE results were out, I had the chance to select a science or Art course for university because I had performed well in all subjects. I was discouraged from the Arts by my parents. I knew i couldn’t take medicine (what all our parent want hey ;p !) because I loved children and hated to see them suffer when sick and when being treated. My dads friend mentioned Biomedical Sciences- I was home- perfect blend between some aspects of human medicine and lots of biology of the human body. It was during my undergraduate studies that I found out that being a biomedical scientist was actually a career choice! I could study the human body and understand the pathogens that cause trouble and contribute to helping the community. Reduce the suffering. For me, that was one of the greatest motivations!

However, I must say that once i got in the thick of things, the thing that kept me going is the desire to “know”. I keep asking how come? Why is this so? etc I still prefer working on projects that keep me grounded-that I am trying to solve a problem that afflicts human. Because of advances in technology, it is easy to forget this