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Lexie Chakales

Mrs. Shumate

English II

22 May 2017

The Fulfillment of a Scientific Career

Often people contemplate how to balance success and passion in work. Edward O. Wilson,

from a young age, fell in love with science through his discoveries of nature. He eventually became a

Harvard professor for many years, and has written multiple books including Letters to a Young

Scientist in which he explains his life in science and ideas for creating a successful career in this field.

To create a successful career in science, a person must be passionate for and open minded in their work

while having a clear strategy in order to sustain and create a fulfilling career.

The joy of discovery with an open mind for serendipitous occurrences is important for a person

to be successful in a scientific career because this opens more doors that lead to a fulfilling life.

Ananthanarayan states that serendipity plays a major role in biological progress [and] thats why new

scientists need to keep at least three or four different lines of investigation going, because the one that

pays off is the one you dont think will (Ananthanarayan). What he means by this is that throughout

your career as a scientist, its important to be aware of unexpected outcomes in your work which might

lead to success that you didnt originally think of. In Letters to a Young Scientist, Wilson emphasizes

that you need to be passionate rather than great at math or science and have an open mind to learning

new things and discovering what you werent necessarily looking for. Furthermore, Oluwagbemi adds

that in order to have a successful and fulfilling career, it is beneficial to take part in developmental

activities which...can affect the future (Oluwagbemi). Its beneficial to your career to push yourself to

participate in projects that will help you gain new skills and knowledge which will lead to new ideas.

This connects to Letters to a Young Scientist because Wilson argues that its important to find what you
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want to do but also be open to trying different things in case more catch your passion and open other

doors.

To have a successful career in science, It is also essential to strategize how you would create

your life in science such as communicating with new people. Evans-Galea emphasizes that

developing skills and applying strategies...will strengthen your ability to never run low on fuel, avoid

holding patterns and take flight to succeed in science (Evans-Galea). Evans-Galea laid out strategies

for success in science, and one of the most important elements was strong, regular communication with

many different people. This ties back into Wilsons idea of not getting stuck on one particular focus but

instead trying many things and keeping an open mind since you dont always know where

opportunities lie or who might help open a door for you. The article Building a Sustainable Career in

Science points out that every single Rockefeller faculty member surveyed stated that good

communication skills were crucial (Singhvi and Sachdev). Communication with everyone is very

important in sustaining your career, especially in science - the more you know, the more discoveries

you can make. Wilson argues that it is helpful to get your name out and know as many people as you

can related to your interests and job.

Edward O. Wilsons novel includes wonderful advice for those interested in scientific careers.

He also promotes ideas on how to be both successful and passionate. If you choose a career in

science, and particularly in original research, nothing less than an enduring passion for your subject

will last the remainder of your career, and life (Wilson). Therefore, passion, an open mind and a solid

strategy are key ingredients to success in the field of science and life.

Works Cited

Ananthanarayan, B. "Joy of Discovery as a Reason for Pursuing a Career in Science." Current Science
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(00113891), vol. 112, no. 6, 25 Mar. 2017, pp. 1079-1080. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=122070494&site=ehost-live.

Evans-Galea, Marguerite V. "Your Science Career." Chemistry in Australia, Aug. 2015, pp. 24-27.
EBSCOhost,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=108726872&site=eho
st-live.

Oluwagbemi, Olugbenga, et al. "Paving the Way Towards a Successful and Fulfilling Career in
Computational Biology." Plos Computational Biology, vol. 10, no. 5, May 2014, pp. 1-3.
EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003593.

Singhvi, Aakanksha and Pallavi Sachdev. "Building a Sustainable Career in Science." Nature
Biotechnology, vol. 28, no. 4, Apr. 2010, pp. 378-379. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1038/nbt0410-378.

Wilson, Edward O. Letters to a Young Scientist. New York: Liveright Corporation, 2014. Print.