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“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get”

24/02/2023

On the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science

by Magdalena Kulczycka, Managing Director,

The Association of Biotechnological Companies BioForum

Do you remember Forest Gump sitting on a bench at a bus stop with a box of chocolates? Do you remember his quote?  “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’ll get”

Well… that’s the story of my life. I should tell you that I had my career path well scheduled and written down – that would look very professional. But it wasn’t like that, as life was changing my plans spontaneously and it led me to a position where I have TONs of possibilities for personal and professional development. I can tell that I am very fortunate to do what I truly love and is my passion which is meeting people and discovering their “Why”’s.

 

What led me here?

There’s not one thing but rather small steps that were shaping my character and skills that are beneficial for me nowadays.

Some of the steps were very easy like having a wonderful Grandfather – professor of neurology, who introduced me to the world of science and medicine, or by sending one message to one of the collogues, who connected me with my future employer, who changed my life.

Some of the steps were more difficult and, initially, were causing a lot of trouble, but eventually turned out to be very beneficial to me.

One of them was an argument with the vice dean in my high school – I decided that I have to change schools.. and I did. It was difficult for a teenager but totally worth it.

Another one – having a very demanding chemistry teacher in high school, who taught us chemistry at university level and I had problems due to that, but then at university, the chemistry was piece-of-cake and I could have focused on other subjects.

 

Any hints?

Above mentioned positives and negatives led me to one MAIN result: getting to know myself better.

It had to take time, as I had to collect life experience – it doesn’t happen overnight or in a well-written plan for a career path. No way.

Getting to know your strengths, and weaknesses allows you to fit yourself into this very variable and complex world. But you have to have one thing: be an open–minded person, as this enables you to be flexible in grasping the opportunities in your life and adjusting them to rapidly changing situations around you.

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Alexandra Simionca
Alexandra Simionca

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