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I am a junior and I have known that I want to be a chemist but I am not sure what subfield of chemistry I would like to study and base my career on. What are some subfields in chemistry I could consider based on my interests?

In school I am in a pre calculus class which I am taking as a dual credit class that I quite frankly enjoy and understand. I am also in a chemistry class that I enjoy and understand as well. I love doing labs and experiments. I also enjoy observing marine life. One hobby that I have is cosmetology. I like anything that has to do with makeup and hair, etc. Art is also one of my passions. I love doing pencil drawings, painting, etc. What are some career options that best align with these interests?
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Joseph’s Answer

Interests in marine life and cosmetology can both relate to the more biological side of chemistry, so studying parts of biochemistry would seem like a good starting point. I don't know the names of the subfields, but perhaps areas that look into the chemistry of proteins and amino acids, and the chemistry of biological cells; what goes on at the cell wall and such.

You shouldn't feel restricted to that area, however. Particularly with an interest in marine life, there's many areas of chemistry that might be applicable. There's fascinating marine life at the bottom of the oceans around hydrothermal vents, and I think there's some unusual chemistry behind that. Another area might be plastics and poly-hydrocarbons; there's a big problem for marine life caused by microplastics, and I'm sure there's plenty of interesting chemistry looking for potential solutions and mitigations for that.
Your artistic side suggests you have the creativity and innovation to do well in academic research, if you follow your studies through to the higher academic levels, too.

It terms of a later career, you'll likely get better ideas about what direction you want to go in as you progress through your studies, but based on your interests at the moment, here's some fields that spring to mind for me:
-Cosmetologist
-Marine biologist/biochemist
-Marine conservation
-Research chemist in academia (PhD, postdoc) [maybe researching microplastics etc]
-Research chemist in industry [maybe within cosmetics or big pharma)
-Analytical laboratory chemist (particularly if you're still enjoying lab work; there's lots of early-career options for example in environmental chemistry labs, checking contamination in water samples etc)
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Jami’s Answer

I had a chemistry teacher once that was a physics major... Maybe those two go hand in hand. Cosmetology could work with chemistry if you work with hair dye and such...
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