Five years. That's how long I stared at this skull before admitting what I saw. A 140,000-year-old child with a Neanderthal jaw and human-shaped head. Every measurement felt like I was lying. Every comparison made me question if I belonged in this lab. My advisor kept asking for 'more data.' The grant committee wanted certainty I couldn't give. I ran the analysis seventeen times, convinced I'd made some freshman mistake. The skull sat there, patient as archaeology gets, while I had panic attacks in the stairwell. Turns out we were right. Neanderthals and humans bred 100,000 years earlier than anyone thought. The paper's accepted. The headlines call it 'groundbreaking.' But I keep thinking about those five years of doubt. How many times I almost gave up. How this ancient child taught me more about imposter syndrome than human evolution. 🧠 #Science #LabBurnout #AcademicLife