There’s a moment in every project when you realize you’re not just missing a variable—you’re missing the whole point. For me, it was a satellite image: a 278-foot-deep crater where there shouldn’t be one. Twenty-three billion gallons of water, gone in ten days. I thought I was tracking melt rates, not watching the ice sheet rewrite the rules in real time. I spent months convincing myself I was in control, that the models were enough. But the data didn’t care about my deadlines or my sleep schedule. It just kept showing me how little I knew. My advisor called it a breakthrough. I just felt small, like the ground had shifted under my feet and I was the only one who noticed. I keep telling myself this is why I do science—to be surprised. But some days, I wish the world would just behave for once, so I could catch my breath. #Science #ScienceFatigue #ClimateDespair