I have no idea how I got interested in the sciences. I can't think of a single role model, per se. I got very lucky with a particularly brilliant 5th grade teacher, but I think I was somewhat fascinated with it in a serious way long before then. The only thing, other than a shuttle astronaut, that I ever wanted to be was a scientist. (And I only considered astronaut because I'd heard they needed to have multiple degrees in science.)

My three brothers all live lives very much like my parents'. Out of HS, one brother went into the army, one was a filling station attendant through HS and graduated into being a butcher, and the other a temp blue collar worker. Now, respectively, they put batteries into boxes, lay carpets, and the other loads pallets from a dock onto a truck. These are great jobs - if you like doing them - and that's what you really want to do. Secretary, gardner, garbageman, sewage worker - they're all great things if you like doing them. But just knowing that you do have choices is a great thing.

The thing I tried to get across to the kids was this: work in the sciences is really interesting (I've got to write game programs, help people solve math problems, read a lot, and so forth); you get to do things before most people ever hear about it (internet, voip, networked gaming), you get a pretty good pay for it; anybody can do it if they're willing to work for it; just because you fail at something a few times doesn't mean you can't ever do it well; college is worth the effort.

I don't think I gave any indication that their lives would not be happy and worthwhile were they to prefer something other than science - only that science was an option.

k