I Waited for a Spike. I Got Silence Instead.

Lab notebook, unsent. I spent months staring at data, waiting for that one spike—a brief, impossible flash that would mean I’d found something. Most nights, I just found more noise. My advisor called it patience. I called it watching hope decay, one spreadsheet at a time. Everyone talks about the magic of discovery, but no one mentions the hours spent doubting if you’re even looking in the right place. Or the way your heart drops when the data looks flat, again, and you realize you might be the only one who cares if it ever changes. I tell myself it’s worth it. But sometimes, the silence in the lab is louder than any result. #ScienceFatigue #LabBurnout #StillSearching #Science