LabXchange convenes a community that showcases a wide variety of STEM careers. Our collaborator The Catalyst in Me is on a mission to explore scientific journeys, one interview at a time. So, we sat down with founder Adama Saccoh to learn more about her work.
The Catalyst In Me is all about documenting journeys and appreciating all the big and small moments. It was created to both ease confusion in finding your career, and make you feel comfortable in making decisions that just suit you.
I didn't really come up with the name on my own. It was supposed to be called "My Catalytic Life," but I didn't want the focus to be only on me.
The Catalyst In Me hopes to show the range of science careers available to budding scientists with real life examples. The profiles show that all our journeys are similar, but not the same, and through that, anyone can be a scientist. I hope for it to be a go-to reference for anyone looking to pursue a career in the life sciences. The ultimate goal is to create content that works for a majority of countries and to host workshops as well!
My science inspirations come from the people I interview and people I interact with. I have made great friends and great connections. Watching them excel despite all the barriers is what pushes me to continue. Each person reminds me why I started and gives me a glimpse into the future I can make for myself and the endless possibilities. It is even more special as the majority of my interviews are with Black women. So, I see myself in them - and that is the greatest inspiration.
Read about Adama's scientific journey!
I grew up in Sierra Leone and unfortunately science experiments weren't always as cool as they could have been. The first experiment I remember pretty well was at A levels, demonstrating osmosis in biology class using beetroot.
The original idea of science careers being endless is what keeps me going. I started this blog because I was confused and didn't want to pursue medicine anymore. I wanted to see what was out there while documenting my journeys as well. During my Msc, when I was a bit down, it also served as an outlet and that motivated me to keep going, I get to gain new skills and lean into my "creative" side, so that's fun.As long as I want to continue "sciencing," I will always want to share. To add to that, the community of people that are interested always find a way to keep me going by sharing their support. Making a difference in one person's career is all it takes to spark a new wave of ideas.
"I wish I was adenine, then I could get paired with U."
Do you want to check out The Catalyst in Me's interviews with people in diverse STEM careers? Visit their collaborator page.Who are the LabXchange content collaborators? View our growing list of content collaborators here.
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