I Found the Signal. I Still Felt Invisible

I stared at the faint blip on the screen, the one everyone would call a breakthrough. Webb’s first planet, maybe. My hands shook, not from excitement, but from exhaustion—the kind that settles in your bones after months of staring at noise, doubting if you’re even seeing what’s real. They’ll say it’s a win. But I remember every hour spent subtracting starlight, every time I convinced myself the data was just a glitch. I thought finding something new would feel like arrival. Instead, it’s just another night alone, eyes burning, wondering if the next round of analysis will prove I was wrong all along. I keep going, not because I believe in the work, but because I don’t know how to stop. #ScienceFatigue #ImposterInTheRoom #LabBurnout #Science