They're calling it a breakthrough. First coastal great hornbill in Kerala. My photos are everywhere now. I stood there for three hours waiting for that bird, camera ready, knowing this could be the data point that validates two years of grant applications. The IUCN will quote me. My advisor will finally return my emails. But when I uploaded the images that night, alone in my hotel room, I felt nothing. Just the familiar hollow ache that follows every small victory in this field. Five rejections this year. Funding running out in six months. And here I am, discovering something genuinely rare, something that should make me feel like a real scientist. Instead I'm calculating: will this be enough for the next application? Will they finally see me as legitimate? The bird flew away. I'm still here, waiting for something to feel different. 📸 #Science #FieldWorkStruggles #ImposterInTheRoom