New beginnings

You would think that sacrificing the next 4-5 years of youth to a goal many have described in terms more befitting visions of their personal hells would, at the very least, prompt the panic of my inner monologue. But alas, I stand not consumed by fear and uncertainty, but unwavering in my convictions, and daring in my ambitions.

All things aside, though, I truly believe this is the start of something special, and a journey into many new ideas and more.

This is not to say I didn't have any doubts about this commitment, though. In fact, I feel it would have been abnormal to not have had any.

Pursuing a doctoral degree is no simple task. It can be one of the most grueling experiences of one's academic career (as I have been told), and I have been privileged to have had a small taste of that over the past year. Monotonous weeks that feel unproductive yet somehow bring you closer to a moving target; experimental pipelines with many moving parts that can be hard to digest in one go; group meetings - my god, I dreaded those; and other not-so-pleasant experiences designed to test your resolve just enough to always keep you teetering on the edge of your sanity, but not enough to lose it. It's a lot of things, difficult things, but you ultimately learn to stomach it.

This is not to say it's all bad, though. When research is going great and data is coming out like clockwork, which in turn creates a pleasant experience downstream, it genuinely feels amazing. Especially if you have group members (or lab partners) who know how to live life just a little bit. It reminds you in those moments that there's more to life than cranking out results (good or bad), and certainly makes up for the less nice moments.

I personally am excited for what the next four years bring, and cannot wait for what comes ahead. The field seems to be changing so rapidly with no chance of slowing down. It's going to be an interesting journey and I cannot wait to see what the future brings!