Looking for Inspiration Posted on January 20, 2009 It's a long road, so pay attention to what inspires you, advises Dr. William A. Vega.

When I got out of high school, I was working in factories. I was working in cannon shell factories on the grave shift, and that was equally uninspirational for me. So I wanted something that was more uplifting, that would provide a better lifestyle and intellectual challenge than that, although I didn't know what it was.

Nevertheless, it's just not happenstance that can bring you all through that. There has to be drive. There has to be a burning desire to move through it because there's many roadblocks and frustrations. Many.

I think people who are going to be successful in research have to have enormous personal commitment. They have to really have intellectual curiosity, really enjoy reading, learning, working with ideas. They like discovery and developing insights into things. And I think if you have those characteristics and you have the awareness of persistence as the major tool for moving forward. Because sometimes you feel like you're boring through a wall of granite in your career because you hit dull spots that are not all fast-moving and not all rewarding and giving you reinforcement all the time.

Sometimes it's like I keep telling people, it's not all party. Sometimes you wash the dishes in your career or you're stuck in a situation that you don't love, yet nevertheless you must persist and continue to have your eye on the greater prize, which is to move that research ball forward so you have more opportunities.