Milestones

My road in life took a while to figure out.
Deciding on a college honors research project in college: Biochemistry.
Worked as a research lab technician in a cancer research lab.
Entered graduate school.
After getting my Ph.D., got a full-time professional medical writing job.
After 4 years and a promotion, got fired from my medical writing job.
Started trawling the internet to try and determine what career was appropriate for me.
Found the Kiersey Temperament Sorter, which is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Discovered that my professional / personality type was INFP (I is for introvert).
Keep following my journey

Career

Freelance Science Writer / Editor / Blogger

I write promotional material for the Department of Medicine of a large health system.

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Writing
Science
Working Independently

Day to Day

Since I'm a freelancer, I make my own schedule. My day usually starts with writing in my journal or mining Twitter for stuff that interests me. I eat a healthy breakfast and take my medications, tidy up and take care of minutiae, go to yoga, then to therapy, then food shopping, then lunch, then rest, then make dinner. Then I realize that I haven't done my work. So I may do some writing at night for my job, or I wait until the next morning and then sit for about 3 hours to write for my job.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for middle school students

If you're like me, you will tend to follow your interests no matter what. If you are passionate about writing and biological science, do things outside of school like going with friends / family to cool science museums and film festivals, listen to popular science podcasts and follow them on Facebook / Twitter, etc. With the internet, you really have the entire world at your fingertips! I wish I had that when I was your age.

Recommended Education

My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Society in General:

""You'll be mush before you're 20." (my Dad, when I was 6 years old); "You have poor math skills and cannot improve" (7th grade math teacher); "I know you will face all challenges that come your way" (12th grade English teacher)"

Challenges I Overcame

Extreme emotional and psychological abuse