I planned to talk about my passion today (like stuff I do to keep myself happy and occupied), and it'll mostly be academic stuff I suppose, since I'm a uni student (college junior?)

At school, I didn't really think about what I enjoyed and my parents didn't agree to send me to any clubs or classes even when I wanted to. I was pretty good at science and English (as a second language), but not so much at Chinese and maths, which are more heavily weighted.

So when I was asked about my choice for A-Levels, I wanted to do subjects that would prepare me for a degree in Linguistics, because it seemed to combine both science and languages. My family heavily disagreed and I ended up doing four Maths/Sciences A-Levels.

I did well nonetheless and got into a good uni since I did well in English too. In my first year, I studied 50:50 Physics and Biology, and I hated Physics. It was hard to let go because I've wanted to be a physicist for a while and couldn't believe I'm not good at it anymore.

In retrospect, I was ill mentally and it was a miracle that I survived the year at all. At the beginning of the 2nd year, I started doing full Bio. I hopped around a few papers and didn't like them. Then I got too ill and intermitted (medical gap year).

Since high school, I have been interested in Biomedical Engineering, and I did a research placement on cardiac MRI during the summer of 2019. I really struggled with it, both interpersonally with my supervisor and colleagues, and technically because I didn't like programming.

At the end of it, I was at a loss. I knew I didn't enjoy my placement, but I didn't know what else I could do. Then a memory flashed back and everything clicked.

As part of the 1st year, we went on a field trip to Wales for a week to study clearwater and aquatic creatures. One day we focused on microplastic, and we assessed the amount of plastic washed up on a beach by hand-packing them for 5 hours. It was gruelling work but so rewarding.

I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world and do useful work. And I knew I am good at biology, particularly physiology/anatomy. And that I'm fairly competent at Maths. So I became interested in public health and epidemiology in this way.

At the end of 2019, I was writing a paper for a student thinktank on MH access, which I had to drop out when I intermitted. Nevertheless, I have never felt as fulfiled as when I was working out the policy recommendations or researching health funding across the globe.

So here's a personal plug: go follow @Polygeia - they are a student thinktank focusing on global health issues. I've been working for them for a few months and I cannot wait to present our results in October or so.

This is my journey to get to know what I want to do. I am still not 100% sure that it is 'the' direction, but as you can see, I have lost hope and interest a few times and it seems to work out okay. I hope this thread was interesting for you all.

Please get in touch @ChernJyyYuh if you'd like to talk about public health, the environment, or scicomm. I'm constantly on the look-out for internships and projects and you can find my CV here: http://www.chen-zhiyu.com 

What is your passion/calling in life? How did you find it? I'd love to hear about your stories :D