If you are seriously planning a career in science and if you are
devoting your time to the study of science, mathematics, English, and
foreign languages, you are laying the foundation in school right now
for your future. You--whether you are a he or a she--can begin now
without waiting until the sixth, or ninth, or twelfth grade introduces
you to further courses.
[Illustration: Girls have no reason to feel that any branch of
science, including nuclear technology and engineering, is strictly a
“man’s job.”]
Beginning now, you can supplement your studies by exploring science
through books. You can go to your school library and to your public
library for reading material. Teachers and librarians can help you
select material.
The doors of knowledge can open, however, only as rapidly as you can
read. The sheer bulk of scientific literature in print today is
staggering. Any student who is a slow reader should seek immediate
help from his teachers. Slow reading does not prove a slow mind, nor
does slow reading improve comprehension. Both these ideas are false,
and, if you mistakenly cling to either one, you cheat yourself. As a
matter of fact, probably not one person in a million reads as rapidly
as he can, and it would behoove even the exceptionally rapid reader to
work at improving this basic skill, which is essential to all
accomplishment.
Further, if you want to do serious scientific study, ask your teachers
to outline science projects that you can undertake after school or
during free periods. Many projects that are both educational and fun
can be undertaken without costly equipment or a complete laboratory.
Other means of improving scientific understanding and competence
outside the classroom include science clubs, state junior academies of
science, and participation in science fairs. If these activities do
not exist in your area, perhaps you can whip up enough interest among
students, teachers, and parents to start them. If not, you can channel
your science projects through such organizations as boys’ clubs or
Scouts.
The student who is avidly studying science in school and in
extra-curricular activities sometimes sets his sights on a summer
laboratory job. Although this is certainly worthwhile, often it cannot
be realized. Many opportunities exist, however, for valuable summer
study and training in the approximately 200 special programs for
science students at colleges and universities. These programs are
sponsored by the National Science Foundation to provide outstanding
high-school students with unusual laboratory and study experiences.
College: Is It a Necessity?
Many intelligent and successful people never attended college, but few
of them are in the scientific ranks. If you want a career in science,
you must first select a college or university. Many factors, of
course, determine this choice.
The first question you have to ask yourself is a rather grim one:
which schools will admit me? With the rapid increase in student
population, the shortage of teachers, and the physical facilities of
universities strained to bursting, it is no longer possible for
colleges to admit everybody who wants to enter. Again, as always, this
is where hard work in elementary and in high school pays off: good
grades in “solid” subjects are master keys to university gates.
Entrance exams required by many schools are stiff, but a background of
twelve years of conscientious study usually prepares you to deal with
them.
A college education is a costly business anywhere these days, but
expenses can vary greatly from school to school. Once again the matter
of precollege achievement crops up: open to undergraduate students
with top records are scholarships and special educational loans and
other programs designed to offset or defray college expenses.
After you consider entrance requirements and cost, you should weigh
the location of the school, course offerings in your field of
interest, faculty, and facilities. You should also evaluate the size
and type of the institution in terms of your own personality. Parents,
teachers, and local scientists can be excellent counselors in helping
you make the decision.
Inevitably some intelligent students who lack motivation fail to
achieve top grades in high school. Science careers are open even to
these students if they choose their colleges carefully. Sometimes
small, less well-known colleges will admit them because the
competition for entrance is not as great as it is in “name” colleges.
Small schools should not be dismissed as “second rate.” They are
usually staffed by fine teachers, and, even with limited laboratory
facilities, such colleges still offer excellent training.