My notes for a sharing session with high school students (aka my FAQs)

I was recently invited by my classmate, Junyi, to share my experiences in college and grad school with a small group of high school students who are planning to apply for college. The session was informal; the goal was to share my ‘unofficial’ life stories, and any advice for college and beyond.

30 minutes before the session, I sat down and took some notes to prepare myself. Below, you may find these notes, together with some answers that I recalled from the session. Hopefully you might find them useful (and entertaining), especially if you are a high school or college student wanting to know more about research and neuroscience.

Target audience: 11 high school students, diverse interests but some are interested in Psychology, Computer Science and chemistry. Some of them have had some exposure to brain and cognitive science.

How did you get into neuroscience?

I was a physics major my first year of college, but was struggling to figure out what I would do with a Physics degree. I was in love with Theoretical Physics at the time, but was held back from pursuing it because I was always worried that it was not ‘practical’ enough. It was an interesting deliberation at that time.
In my college (Caltech), you have to take a class that is outside of your major. I chose a class called “In Search of Memory” taught by Prof. Jerome Pine (whom I learned with deep sadness had passed away in 2017). We read a book with the same title by Eric Kandel which goes into his studies of learning and memory. The class was great. I realized there were so many unanswered interesting questions in neuroscience, and decided to learn more.
I joined a research lab at Caltech and started learning about research. It turned out that I could do the job well, and I have stuck with neuroscience since then :)

(These are the notes I took but did not share)

Why did I make the switch? I did not know why I made that choice!
Definitely some element of curiosity, wanting to figure out how the brain works
But also driven by what I thought I can do (use math to understand the brain)
Long process of figuring out the details: I was briefly a premed, briefly considered the CNS (Computation and Neural Systems) major, applied to many labs and not heard back or not get in.
Even now, I’m not totally sure of what I will do in the future. BUT recommend that you develop your strengths. You don’t have to know all the details right now, but you also don’t want to regret not putting enough effort. Efforts will open more doors in the future

Did you always want to be what you are or did you have wild goals and dreams, like being famous or something?

(Just the notes - question not asked during session)

Of course, everyone wants to be rich and famous!
Has to be consistent with reality, and realizing what works best for you. You might think you would be happy being rich and famous, but you are mostly likely wrong. Self-reflection is key.
There should be no ‘wanting’. You develop naturally your abilities. Don’t force anything. But keep reflecting and reflecting!
The polished story of me ‘knowing’ that I wanted to be doing neuroscience research is a simplified, convenient narrative. The reality was that I was struggling with being a Physics which motivated me to find alternatives, neuroscience happens to be the most attractive choice which fits my abilities and interest at the time.
Your choice and direction in life depends greatly on the circumstances, the people you are with, your mentors etc. Many factors might work against a certain dream. “Following the dream” might not be the best strategy. Develop, develop, but see the paths that you can go. Don’t be too narrowly focused and miss out opportunities.

What are the best and worst parts about your job?

Best part is that I get to use both my hands and mind in my day-to-day work. I can build behavioral setups for my experiments (hand), collect and visualize data, do coding and model the neural responses with computational tools (mind).
A brief side note: my research focuses on modeling the neural circuits involved in decision-making. I use computational models and behavioral experiments to understand the neural activity and important neurons that are involved in visual decisions, and try to activate or inactivate those neurons to understand their contribution to behavior.
Worst part is probably specialization. It gets more lonely when you’re working at your own subject of expertise and trying to push the boundaries. Therefore finding the right colleagues to collaborate and share your ideas is important. Another thing is the physical demands of doing long experiments.

High school experience

Lots of math and science classes! Strong math and science foundation is important, I think.
Some early research experience with the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) in Singapore. However, I did not think I led the project and was largely following instructions (at least until all the data was collected). I often compare the experience with my research in undergrad, where I find that I was driving the research and actively asking questions. I think the difference boils down to motivation: if I knew the applications and if I am interested in the topic, I tend to participate more actively. Reflection is again important.

Experience at college

Does not matter where you go, but what you do! (I always remember this quote from Prof. Rick Born from Harvard whom I interviewed with)
In the same vein: don’t worry too much about deciding the exact classes you should take. Follow your motivation, and choose the classes that are interesting, fit your interests and can help develop your skills.
Some things that college can teach you:
- Time to experience new subjects
- Structured way to learn new skills and concepts (STEM especially)
- Exposure to research
- Connections! Learn from your peer

Advice for freshmen majoring in STEM:

Learn programming!
Be curious about the world
Find good mentors and surround yourself with smart, motivated peers whom you will learn much from
Be independent thinkers, evaluate, evaluate espcially in the social media age