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A Sunday Confession: I never wanted to be an astronomer

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After an almost endless Sunday, winter has arrived with a thump in Sydney and it is wet, very, very wet. So, time for a quick post. Last week, I spoke at an  Early Career Event  in the Yarra Valley, with myself and  Rachel Webster  from the University of Melbourne talking about the process of applying for jobs in academia. I felt it was a very productive couple of days, discussing a whole range of topics, from transition into industry and the two-body problem , and I received some very positive feedback on the material I presented. I even recruited a new mentee to work with.  What I found interesting was the number of people who said they had decided to be a scientist or astronomer when they were a child, and were essentially following their dream to become a professor at a university one day. While I didn't really discuss this at the meeting, I have a confession, namely that I never wanted to be an astronomer.   This will possibly come as a surprise to some. What I a