• Question: what is the biggest mistake you have ever made?

    Asked by stakernathan to David, Rebecca, Simon, Verity, Wei on 17 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rebecca Handley

      Rebecca Handley answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Ahh Im not sure. I dont think I’ve made any really big mistakes, I’ve always managed to find out another way of doing something if I’ve messed it up the first time, I’m pretty determined when I want to be!

    • Photo: Verity Nye

      Verity Nye answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      That’s a tough question to answer. I don’t really feel that mistakes are always a bad thing because I’ve always learnt something from my mistakes and I don’t have any regrets. When I finished my MSc I was so focused on what I wanted to do I didn’t even consider other options. I ended up doing various rubbish jobs to support myself while I worked without funding so that I could keep doing what I wanted. I was broke, exhausted and there were no opportunities to carry on with my work at that time. Finally I realised that I should just get a job in marine science, so that I could support myself better and get some different experience. Although it wasn’t my dream job it gave me more confidence, skills and experience and I was better equipped to go for what I really wanted when the opportunity was available.

    • Photo: Wei Xun

      Wei Xun answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      I would have to say to have had followed career path that in the end, was not for me.

      However, I don’t have regrets as I still learnt from it as many things that make me a good scientist now were also the same as my other job, and I have a slightly different angle of thinking than some of my colleagues, which isn’t a bad thing.

    • Photo: Simon Trent

      Simon Trent answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      I cant think of any in science, which is probably a good thing. Maybe its just round the corner! Making mistakes and errors are always useful though, you can learn more from mistakes than from being right sometimes.

    • Photo: David Armstrong

      David Armstrong answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      I don’t think I have made any big ones in science, but every little one I make usually still tells me something important.

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