Four years I've been setting those trail cameras in San Rafael Valley. Four years of hiking alone in the dark, checking empty SD cards, writing 'no activity' in reports that nobody reads. My PI keeps asking about 'preliminary findings' while I'm out here hoping a jaguar will save my dissertation. Then Susan texts: 'We got him.' Jaguar Number Four, finally back on camera after months of nothing. The lab celebrated. Grant renewals suddenly looked possible. I stared at the grainy footage of this beautiful apex predator and felt... empty. I'd spent so long waiting for proof that something existed, I forgot to check if I still did. The jaguar crossed borders freely while I stayed trapped behind my own walls—deadlines, expectations, the constant fear that I'm not enough. We documented his return. I'm still figuring out mine. 📷🐆 #Science #FieldWorkBurnout #DataDepression