I would advise someone wanting to choose a career like mine to take all the math, chemistry, physics and biology courses that can be fit into one's schedule in undergraduate and graduate schools. Be prepared to work like hell. The realization that, much of the time, I am walking where no one else has walked on a route that will yield exciting information that not only is of interest to me but can also potentially be of significance to the world. Devising, planning, carrying out, analyzing, and publishing experiments that will answer questions about growth and development of the animals in which I am interested. It holds the answers to fundamental questions that will eventually permit us to understand the mechanisms of cell growth, abnormal as well as normal.
Intellectual integrity is the sine qua non.
Intelligence, honesty, integrity, drive, persistence, commitment, diligence, ability to identify and work with like-minded successful collaborators. My hero, mentor and person I most admire is the late Professor Kenneth D. Roeder.