Grace Peters

From a young age, my parents instilled in me a great love of knowledge and learning. This enabled me to be curious and I was lucky enough to have many experiences growing up that contributed to this passion. For a long time, I did ballet and left school after Year 9 to pursue this full-time. For better or worse I changed my mind and through TAFE and distance education I was able to complete my HSC in the same year that I would have even if I hadn’t left school. Distance education was a good experience and I gained skills that have enabled me to perform well at university, including an ability to focus and good time management. This has proven especially useful while I finish my degree online!

Doing the flexible science degree has given me the opportunity to choose subjects that are both interesting to me and give me the skills to be able to carry out higher degree research in a field I am passionate about.

I am passionate about research. When I started studying science at university, I initially wanted to practice medicine, however, as near the end of my degree, I have become more interested in conducting research, namely research far and wide-reaching implications for society. I am particularly interested in diseases, such as those that negatively affect individuals living in poverty. These populations suffer greatly, and I would love to have the opportunity to contribute to research into preventing diseases in these communities. 

I chose UTS for a few reasons. A re-emergence of a childhood illness while studying elsewhere had an adverse impact on my marks. This precipitated me to transfer to UTS once I had gotten my health back on track. At first, I was unaware of the opportunity I had been given by being accepted to UTS. The Faculty of Science offers students fantastic learning opportunities, prioritizing laboratory and real-life skills. This has allowed me to feel prepared to enter the workforce.

One of the highlights of my time at UTS has been the opportunity to do an internship. Through doing this, I was introduced to a working laboratory environment and given a glimpse into the intricacies of research and academia.

I had an internship at Centenary where I was given a problem and spent 2 months conducting experiments and reading literature to attempt to answer it. The biggest thing I learned was that when you find out the answer to your question, there are 10 new ones that need to be explored. There is no shortage of things that are unknown, and this is what makes research so exciting.

My studies have given me skills I can use in laboratories, but I have also had the chance to develop other important skills such as the ability to critically appraise work, work collaboratively, and not be nervous to ask questions. My time at UTS has given me the skills that are necessary for the day-to-day workings of a scientist and important in any workplace situation, not just science. These include how to collaborate, take criticism, defer to others, and step back and take a breather when you feel overwhelmed. The list is endless.

Studying science at UTS is fun, hard, and immensely rewarding if you give yourself a chance. Choose electives that help you explore your interests. Study hard, ask lots of questions, and read widely. Even if you feel like you are the smartest person in the room, I can guarantee you have much to learn from others there. In university hard work is more important than being naturally gifted, and those who work hard will always do better than those relying on natural ability.