Why I Became a Researcher

I joined the first cohort of the College of Pharmacy at my alma mater, so there were no upperclassmen and I was able to receive direct guidance from professors from the first year. Because I was involved in setting up the lab at university, I got my start by cleaning new lab equipment. I think this was an invaluable experience because I had to do everything myself. When I first started university, I thought I wanted to be a pharmacist at a hospital, so I had no intention of becoming a researcher; however, I remember becoming extremely interested in research after I learned how to set up an experiment from scratch and was able to achieve results. That is probably when I started seriously considering a career as a researcher. 　Looking back, my homeroom teacher in fifth and sixth grade really liked science, and he would even shorten social studies class times to run science experiments. I also fondly remember doing many experiments during summer vacation. I was not thinking about becoming a researcher back then, but that is when I started enjoying experiments.