When my daughter was in seventh grade she told us, “I want to be an epidemiologist.” My clueless social-scientist husband asked, “Why do you want to be a skin doctor?” Like @OHMomof2 's daughter, my girl wants to study infectious disease and, almost nine years after making her announcement at dinner, public health is still something that makes her eyes light up. 
However, the daily grind of research was less than intriguing for her and she proved to be seriously challenged as a freshman when she first worked in a lab setting. But now that she’s doctor shadowing and working in a clinical setting, she has found that she “forgets about time because the day goes so fast” when she’s involved in patient care. I feel like that she found her passion and the kind of setting she wants to work in to pursue it. I’m just glad she had the time and the opportunity to pursue her passion and refine it a bit.