The bigger picture

If you look at life as a jigsaw puzzle. In the literal sense, when we complete a puzzle we already have the pieces and the challenge is to just putting everything together.

When i look back at my journey into science and biology , where i am now is nowhere close to what i thought it would be.

Gcse is when I was very sure I wanted a future in something to do with biology. As a kid it was very medicine focused. I was stubborn and knew i loved learning about the human body. No other subject topped how i felt when i was learning about how our bodies functioned. I just wanted to know how we worked. The concept of cells, tissues, organs stuck with me and till now it still amazes me how organised and perfectly different parts of our body work together.

I started of as a teen wanting to study medicine with the mentality of being a DR or else . This led me to stay very passionate and hardworking towards my grades. My desire to be a doctor led to me volunteering in a hospital, it was there i knew i loved human interaction and saw hospitals in a different light. I also started to question my motives for being a Dr, were they genuine or was it because of lack of knowledge of other fields. Fast forward to university, studying medical physiology, completely changed my outlook . It confirmed i have a strong need to help and teach the younger generation. It also showed me that helping others and giving back is one of the core things i want to do.

My journey has taken many turns but everything i have done has widened my perspective into what i really like doing. Doing new things hasn't always helped me, it sometimes brought about a strong sense of confusion and led me to think into a bit too many career paths. So think of this bit as picking up a puzzle piece and thinking it will fit perfectly only for it to be the wrong one. This lead to frustration and a heavy sense of self doubt.I wasn’t exposed to the different paths biology could lead you early on, in the space of 2 years i was bombarded with so many options. I was like a kid in a candy store and just wanted to try everything.

One thing i have learnt is to never ignore that burning feeling of purpose you get when you do something. If you can't stop thinking about an idea/ career, then surely it is no coincidence. We live in a generation where opportunities are literally just a google away. Maybe many google searches or emails but nonetheless, they are much closer than they used to be.

In life, we don’t actually have all the pieces with us. Maybe we start with a handful and as time goes by and with experience we find these new puzzle pieces. Sometimes the pieces we find may not make sense until we find another one and they fit perfectly together ( the "aha moment").