Finding My Purpose in Life: Science as a Path for Self-discovery

Abstract

Life is all about making choices. While the degrees of freedom that one may have to choose from can vary greatly between individuals, a common dilemma for people is to choose a career path as one transitions from youth to adulthood. How we approach this is a very personal journey, and often, one does not really know the destination of the path that we chose when we start out. I mean, how “could” anyone know what the best career opportunity may be 15 or 20 years down the road? Or how our own perspectives and values may change as we mature and age? As technologies evolve ever more rapidly while our planet’s environment and geopolitical outlook continue to deteriorate, how are we to attain financial security and maintain self-fulfillment at the same time? In other words, to get to a happy space with contentment when we become an adult. I am not wise enough to give specific answers to these questions, but I believe over the years, I have made some observations and encountered experiences that may speak to these common anxieties about making an important choice at certain junctures of our life. By sharing these anecdotes and opinions alongside to those of the other accomplished scientists in this volume, I hope my personal journey down the path of scientific discoveries would add more “food for thought” and assist our young readers to make their brave move with conviction and optimism. A caution: NOT choosing is in itself a choice and procrastination will likely makes the work needed to realize your goal much harder later on.