by Katy Jones

Science is so exciting. You learn something new every day！ Both of my parents work in chemistry. I have grown up with science and never really found it boring， so Ive always dreamed of using this to help me find an exciting job.

Over the past few years， weve been advised to focus on choosing subjects that would lead us to the right university and our future careers. As much as I love academia[學(xué)術(shù)環(huán)境]， I dont think university is the right path for me as I would like to enter into something that guarantees[保證] a career at the end， and not just a job.

I had already decided to study BTEC注1 Applied[應(yīng)用的] Sciences， P.E， Drama and Maths at A Level注2， but when I was looking for courses on the web with my mum， I stumbled across[偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)] Women into Science， Engineering and Construction.

科學(xué)讓人如此興奮，你每一天都能學(xué)到新的東西！我的父母均從事化學(xué)行業(yè)，我從小就在科學(xué)的氛圍下成長(zhǎng)，從來(lái)不覺(jué)得它無(wú)聊，所以我一直夢(mèng)想著靠科學(xué)找到一份刺激的工作。

在過(guò)去幾年，我們得到的建議是要認(rèn)真選好科目，以便日后能升讀合適的大學(xué)，找到未來(lái)的職業(yè)。盡管我喜歡學(xué)術(shù)研究，但我覺(jué)得大學(xué)并不適合我，因?yàn)槲蚁Ｍ酉聛?lái)深造的地方，最后能確保我得到一份能夠作為事業(yè)的職業(yè)，而不僅僅是幫我找到一份工作而已。

我已經(jīng)決定學(xué)習(xí)英國(guó)商業(yè)與技術(shù)教育委員會(huì)（BTEC）的應(yīng)用科學(xué)課程，以及普通教育高級(jí)程度的體育、戲劇和數(shù)學(xué)課程。然而，當(dāng)我和媽媽在網(wǎng)上查找課程的時(shí)候，我碰巧看到了“女性參加科學(xué)、工程學(xué)及建造”計(jì)劃。

They offered the chance to spend a week with the RAF注3 to learn about engineering. And there was a lot of information about technical roles for a young woman within the Air Force.

None of my family have ever been in the armed forces， but this is the kind of exciting career that I want and not the nine-to-five daily routine of working in an office.

So I applied[申請(qǐng)]—alongside quite a lot of people—and was the only girl chosen from my school. We were asked to write about our hobbies， interests and career ambitions[雄心] and entered into a tough selection process[過(guò)程].

It helped that I was already on the school hockey team， tennis team， athletics[運(yùn)動(dòng)] team， because they werent just testing our brains. I was so excited when I found out Id got through！

Ive heard the usual stereotypes[固定的形象] of what the RAF is like and that it is a “mans world，” but I wanted to see this for myself—and Im glad I did. Its not every Thursday afternoon that you get to sit in a real life Harrier jet注4.

While we were there， we discovered how the fast jets and helicopters work， and we even got to do some hands-on engineering， by removing the flaps[副翼] from a jet aircraft， and also by designing and building gliders[滑翔機(jī)] with three-metre wingspans[翼展]. This was no ordinary school trip！

The week was fantastic， and the experience has definitely changed me.

My plan now is to apply to be a pilot， possibly a fast jet pilot， like some of the female RAF Flight Lieutenants[空軍上尉] that I met. I want to travel and see the world， but see it from a different perspective[角度].

他們提供機(jī)會(huì)，讓參加者在皇家空軍體驗(yàn)一周，從而學(xué)習(xí)工程學(xué)的相關(guān)知識(shí)。那里還有很多適合年輕女性的空軍技術(shù)崗位信息。

我們家還沒(méi)有人加入過(guò)軍隊(duì)，但這個(gè)刺激的職業(yè)正是我想要的，它不是那種坐在辦公室、朝九晚五的工作。

于是我報(bào)了名——一起申請(qǐng)的還有很多人——我是我們學(xué)校里唯一選上的女生。我們按要求寫(xiě)了自己的愛(ài)好、興趣和職業(yè)抱負(fù)，然后進(jìn)入嚴(yán)格的篩選過(guò)程。

我之前參加了學(xué)校的曲棍球隊(duì)、網(wǎng)球隊(duì)和田徑隊(duì)，這幫了我的大忙，因?yàn)樗麄儨y(cè)試的不單是我們的頭腦。得知通過(guò)選拔后，我激動(dòng)得不得了！

我聽(tīng)過(guò)人們對(duì)皇家空軍的種種成見(jiàn)，說(shuō)那里是“男人的世界”，但我想親眼看看——真高興我確實(shí)做到了。不是人人都有機(jī)會(huì)在每個(gè)周四下午坐到真正的鷂式戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)上哦。

在那里學(xué)習(xí)期間，我們明白了噴氣式飛機(jī)和直升機(jī)的工作原理。我們甚至動(dòng)手參與了一些工程方面的工作，如移去一架?chē)姎馐斤w機(jī)的副翼，還有設(shè)計(jì)并建造翼展三米的滑翔機(jī)。這可不是普通的學(xué)校旅行！

那個(gè)星期太美妙了，這次經(jīng)歷無(wú)疑改變了我。

我現(xiàn)在打算報(bào)考機(jī)師，很有可能是噴氣式飛機(jī)的機(jī)師呢，就像我在皇家空軍遇到的那些女空軍上尉一樣。我想環(huán)游世界，看看這個(gè)世界，但是是從不同視角去看。

注1：英國(guó)商業(yè)與技術(shù)教育委員會(huì)（Business & Technology Education Council）的簡(jiǎn)稱。

注2：英國(guó)普通教育高級(jí)程度證書(shū)（General Certificate of Education Advanced Level）是英國(guó)（不包括蘇格蘭）的普通中等教育文憑，供16至19歲的學(xué)生修讀，通常為期兩年。

注3：英國(guó)皇家空軍（Royal Air Force）的簡(jiǎn)稱。

注4：一個(gè)軍用噴氣式戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)系列，能夠垂直/短距離起降。