• Question: hi Nicola I am poppy and I just wanted to know do you ever get time to relax or does your life evolve around science? ps. what is your favourite hobby/ thing to do?

    Asked by poppyxxx to Nicola, Roy, Rowena, Kieren, Kate on 13 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by jodlington, , .
    • Photo: Nicola Rogers

      Nicola Rogers answered on 13 Mar 2014:

      During my PhD I found it very important to find time to relax outside of work – my motto is always: work hard and play harder!
      I do work long days in the week, but more through choice than anything else – once I get caught up in a science project it drives me to keep at it – and I enjoy it. However, I always make sure that I don’t work late of a Friday so that I spend some time either relaxing at home or catching up with friends. At the weekend I never work! I play the clarinet in a symphonic wind orchestra, so I sometimes have rehearsals at the weekend, or concerts, and I also like to go out cycling on Sundays if the weather is fine. This works well for me because my boyfriend (whom I live with) is a Chemistry teacher in a secondary school, so he also works long hours in the week and tries to keep the weekends free.

    • Photo: Rowena Fletcher-Wood

      Rowena Fletcher-Wood answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Hi Poppy. I know you addressed this to Nicola, but you asked all of us (!) so I’ll answer briefly anyway. I get LOADS of free time from science, but I will it up with science communication and climbing (mostly). Climbing is my favourite thing to do outside science, that and cooking!

    • Photo: Kate Nicholson

      Kate Nicholson answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Hi Poppy,
      Since you asked us all I will answer too – yes I do get time to relax, but I have to admit my brain still thinks about things even when I’m not at work, science is how I understand and explain things so it is always there. Favourite hobbies are baking cakes (and eating them – oops!), archery (longbow and recurve) and if I let myself getting lost in a good book for a few hours too.

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