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Many years ago, when it came time to choose my A-level subjects, I chose Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and AS-level Maths. Science had been my strongest subject at GCSE, but I didn't have any particular vision of wanting to be a scientist. Unfortunately I found Chemistry so hard that I quit the course after two weeks – and Physics wasn't much better. Meanwhile, the school had no Computer Science teacher so I was given a copy of the syllabus and was meant to learn it myself – something I didn't at the time have the motivation or self-reliance to do.
My main reason for choosing Physics and Chemistry had been that I wanted to understand how the universe worked. About halfway through the year I read A Brief History of Time, and that explained everything to my satisfaction. I left that school at the end of year and went to a different one that actually taught computer science. So I have Stephen Hawking to thank for scratching that itch and making it easier to make the decision to do the thing I should have been doing all along.
I did feel sorry for my AS-level maths teacher who started the year with six students and ended it with two, both of whom then dropped out. The main thing I have to show for that year is an unfinished science-fiction novel that I wrote during my study periods.
(The headline of this post is clickbait – there was no chance of me becoming a scientist, but by taking the wrong path I could have sleepwalked into total career failure)
My main reason for choosing Physics and Chemistry had been that I wanted to understand how the universe worked. About halfway through the year I read A Brief History of Time, and that explained everything to my satisfaction. I left that school at the end of year and went to a different one that actually taught computer science. So I have Stephen Hawking to thank for scratching that itch and making it easier to make the decision to do the thing I should have been doing all along.
I did feel sorry for my AS-level maths teacher who started the year with six students and ended it with two, both of whom then dropped out. The main thing I have to show for that year is an unfinished science-fiction novel that I wrote during my study periods.
(The headline of this post is clickbait – there was no chance of me becoming a scientist, but by taking the wrong path I could have sleepwalked into total career failure)
