Hello Steemians! The name is Job, and I hail from that small country called the Philippines. I am currently 24 and have a degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of the Philippines. I graduated last 2014, so it's been four years since I last stepped foot in a classroom.
I now work as a web content writer and I produce articles for a wide range of websites, from online business to real estate. The company I work for has clients in a variety of areas, thus I'm writing on many different topics.
You might be wondering why my work is not related to molecular biology research. That's a great question and one that I would gladly talk about. Here's my story. Right after I graduated in April of 2014, I was immediately offered a job by the uni. My thesis adviser came up to me and asked if I would be interested in taking up a one-year project as a research assistant, to which I obliged. I thought working in research would be the best application of the skills I have learned. It was also my childhood dream to be one of the guys in white coats doing experiments in a lab, so this was fulfilling that dream.
The work was nice; science always sparks my curiosity. At first, I deeply enjoyed doing research, discovering new things and all. The first six months went pretty much well, and most of the time I did love what I was doing, especially when I was attempting to mutate bacteria through ultraviolet radiation. Then came the disappointments and the unmet expectations.
My goal in that research project was to discover a novel antibiotic from different species of extremophile bacteria. Extremophiles are those that can survive harsh environments like hot springs, undersea volcanoes, and deepwater trenches. Some can even survive the cosmic radiation of space. Extremophiles have not been very much explored in terms of antibiotic production; thus this research was done to see if it's possible to get new kinds of antibiotics from extremophiles.
One of the experiments I did was flooding plates of those bacteria with ultraviolet radiation. The idea behind that is bacteria can produce antibiotics as a response to stressful conditions. Here, the stressor used was UV radiation. I also tried other different stress conditions, but none of them produced the results I had expected. No antibiotics, no nothing. Just a random mish-mash of data I can't make sense of.
Of course, good experimentation demands constant repetition. So I kept on doing them, tweaking a few factors here and there. Still, no dice. No new antibiotic, no nothing. Repeating and doing stuff all over again to no avail was what frustrated me. Though I was aware that setbacks like these were part of any good piece of research, I still felt very frustrated. I felt my creative power being drained every single day. I lost the motivation to keep experimenting, knowing it might turn out another disappointment anyway.
Then came the end of the project year. I was supposed to write a formal report detailing what had been done. That was the last task I had to complete. Even then, it took me far too long to finish the report. At that time I was just feeling so down in the dumps that I refused to do my job anymore. I had very little will to finish the report. I knew I had to, but I just did not want to. I could not explain it, but it could have well been my first ever depressive episode. I'm not clinically diagnosed with depression, though; it might have just been the combination of circumstances that triggered a flurry of negative emotions within me.
After more than a month of grinding through, I finally got that report done and dusted. That officially marked the end of my responsibilities as a researcher (for that particular project anyway). But all of the stress and depression it brought taught me one thing - research is not for me. What I thought to be a childhood dream was, in reality, a nightmare. For that, I decided to not find another research project anymore after I was done with the first one. Enough was enough. I did not want to resign my life to experiencing things like that over and over again.
The change happened when I was looking for another job that would suit me. I applied at a bioenterprise startup whose CEO gave a career talk one day in my uni when I was still a student. However, I never received a response from them after I sent them my resume. I was doing nothing and wanted do be productive with my life, so I turned to a friend who owns a small web design business. She was looking for a writer, and the opportunity came at exactly the right moment for me. I took the job in a heartbeat. That was in 2015, and that's what started off my writing career.
I could never have been happier. Although writing for websites that weren't focused on science was not what I had in mind, I sort of fell in love with the job the more I did it. I work from home, which means there is no morning and afternoon commute to endure. I can wake up later than everyone else with no negative consequences. I can work at my own schedule as long as I fulfill my deadlines. The best part is I get to discover many different things as well, even outside of a science lab. The things I have to research for unfamiliar topics opens my eyes to the different industries around the world.
It's not as if writing was just something out of the blue that I settled with. I have been passionate for writing even as a young high-school kid. I used to write for the school paper, and I even made it as a managing editor. Almost every week, I was assigned to write about a topic I was very interested in, and I absolutely loved the work. Writing reflection papers for my economics subject is also something I remember that I equally loved doing. My economics teacher had high regard for the writings I submitted to her.
For that reason, I decided to jump into Steemit. Not only am I writing here for fun and to share my knowledge with others, but I also have the potential to earn something out of it! If I could turn a passion into something that makes money, then why not, right? So look out for more science and technology content from me.
Looking forward to writing more content and having meaningful discussions with the community!
Sincerely,
Job E.
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I've had similar difficulty before working on some things, such as back in school. I wouldn't have classified my experience as depression though. More dread. :P Sometimes it's just really hard to get the motivation to work on some things.
Perhaps there's still a future for you in the sciences...just maybe in a somewhat different setting.
Regardless, hope you manage to find your place here.
Dread eh? I wonder what made you feel that way.
I actually am now pursuing an alternate career path in science communication. I'm hoping to take my masters next year, if I get a scholarship. Doing stuff like this is my form of practise.
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And what a hell of a writer you are! I just loved this introduction and how you tell of your experience. Just know it happns to everyone. Here you dream of becoming this, but then at some point, life brings different plan.
Do you know what i dreamed of becoming when i was a teenager? A Nurse. And you know why? Becausei some what admired those white aprons and, what are they called, those things you put in the ears to 'hear' someones heart beat?
Well, it felt cool and i studied for the aim of one day wearing them too, but like i said, sometimes life chooses a different path, and we realize our passions lie elsewhere, and what we previously wanted no longer as the same allure as then.
Thanks for this touching experience. But i am glad you at east do what you suits your heat now.
Also, you are most welcome to steemit. And i take the pleasure to welcome you. There is lots of things to learn, but i suggest you take your time. You will slowly get the hang of things.
I see you are some really good writer, and your personality, well, it looks cool. I think your articles are all really quality and deserve to be rewarded. For a start, that will not be so quick, and rewards may delay, but i guarantee you, they will finally come, you just have to keep up with such quality posts. meanwhile, just to get you quickly started, i suggest you follow the @asapers. have you heard of them?
They are a group that manually scouts for and curates newbie like you but to qualify and make sure your best works get curated, you need to be following them. I recommend you do. It helps that i am actually one of their curators! And i am excited to meet you, and look forward to more conversations.
And if you have the time, you can also join us in the discord, the link is https://discord.gg/2WYYKA. Don;t worry if you re too busy, following @asapers is also sufficient.
Otherwise, i also do a personal curation called Xpose Curator's Rebound, where i daily feature at least 3 newbies whose articles meet three criteria, namely, originality, depth and relevance. Find out more about it here:Re-introduce post.
Your post here meets all of the selection criteria. So i am going to feature it on today's edition. My hope is to give your quality work here exposure. I hope it leads to it getting noticed and deservedly rewarded.
Your post here meets all these criteria.
So i am going to feature it in
Wow, thanks so much! I am very honoured! More so that you deemed me worthy to be featured on your curation blog. And by the way, that thing you put in the ears to listen to the heartbeat? It's called a stethoscope.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, and surely you will see more of my work in the future. Three cheers to you @mirrors!
Hahahllll. a stethoscope! You see, it even twisting my tongue! No wonder i couldnt become a nurse!
I am glad to meet and make your acquaintance, @thefakebrit. The start is not easy, and there is going to be some really testing times, you know, like when you post what you believe is really good work, and yet i doesn't really get to be rewarded.
That can get you frustrated..but take heart, it is the same experience for everybody when starting, but if you persist with quality content, and make friends, and interact.... those rewards finally start to come.
It will surprise you that even me i am till struggling, everyone is, but we persist for the love of the community. That should be your fist motivation, the wonderful community you will get to meet and interact with. the rest will follow!
I wrote a post the other day, i think which i think might be useful. If you have time, i suggest you look it up. Here is the link 7 Things Steemit is Not.
Otherwise, Today's Xpose Curators Rebound is out, and you are featured. I hope it somehow gives you some exposure. Here is the link.
Much love. And glad to meet you again.
@mirrors
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Happy to see u that you completed your study .
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Welcome to steemit, @thefakebrit! I'll be watching out for your science stuff. It's good to know that more people with science degree are starting to jump in here and share their knowledge. Follow @steemstem for they curate science and technology posts.
Welcome to steemit, hopefully you will enjoy being an active member here!
Wow but your job was amazing! We always do not strike gold anywhere and I believe you did your very best. I hope and pray your discouragement will pass soon!
It is the people like you who are scientifically educated that change the world! It's something I'd like to do actually so we can save the world one step at a time.
I like researching too but it really feels better if my efforts are paid. Which is why if I can find something with good pay to support what I like to write that's where I will be.
You can write for steemSTEM if you want. 😊
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Indeed. I did what I can, but I just realised that I was meant for a different career path. And that's what I'm pursuing now - the field of science communication.
I'd love to write for steemSTEM. How do I do that? Is there an application process or something like that?
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Awww. Well best of luck. 👍
I think if u have Discord u can join? Or ask a current member? I haven't officially joined yet because I am not on Discord but I do write some steemSTEMmy stuff sometimes.
I think a mentor will be able to help u there as well. Maybe u can comment on their post and see who replies. 😊
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Oh I am part of the steemSTEM discord. I just went through it, and I think that they automatically resteem your posts if they find it to be nice. I'll just have to write science content then 👌
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Great! Looking forward to read your STEM articles. :) Enjoy!
It's nice to have a mentor too but since you already know about science writing I think it will be a piece of cake for you. :)