For the past 6 years, I’ve been a MSc/PhD student in the Physics and Astronomy Department at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. Next month I’ll defend my thesis, and move to Baltimore, MD to begin working as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University. I find that big life transitions like this are good times to reflect. On top of this, my current department asked me to write a profile piece for the annual newsletter, so I thought I’d take it as an opportunity to reflect back on my experiences and what brought me to this career in researching the origins of life. I’ve pasted that piece into the blog post below, I hope you enjoy it!