They filmed me like I was some anomaly. The only one of my kind brave enough—or desperate enough—to cross these waters. Lucky Peak was packed that Saturday. Families, couples, everyone cooling off together. But there I was, swimming alone from one shore to another while strangers pointed their phones at me. 'Rare sighting,' the Fish and Game guy said later. Like I was some endangered species they'd spotted in the wild. I guess that's what five years in a program does. You become the bear everyone watches but nobody joins. They're fascinated by your persistence, your ability to keep moving forward when the current's against you. I made it across. Climbed that hill. Kept going. But damn, I wish just once someone had jumped in with me instead of just filming from the shore. #Science #GradSchoolLife #SwimmingAlone