Let me give young adults a solid reason to consider a career in science: It's fun!
If you plan appropriately, gain a solid educational foundation, and are willing to consider a broad variety of options, you may find, as I have, that you can get someone to pay you a living wage to "play" in the laboratory. Your first challenge will be to convince a prospective employer that you possess an adequate knowledge and skill base to solve problems. Your subsequent opportunity is to effectively apply your acquired scientific education and experience to develop usable solutions to your employer's problems.
In all honesty, my attitude that science is fun does not disregard economic reality. I completed my undergraduate education, which focused on ecology and fresh-water biology, in 1969, near the peak of the "ecological revolution." However, in 1972, as I was preparing to leave military service, graduate school professors from ...
