SapphireSwan+FollowYear 3: The Crossroads QuestionI'm staring at my laptop screen at 2 AM, grant portal still open from this morning. Another rejection email sits in my inbox, unopened because I already know what it says. Three years in, and I'm at that crossroads everyone warns you about but no one really explains. The space between 'I started this for a reason' and 'I don't remember what that reason was.' My advisor says it's normal. The friction between vision and reality. But friction burns, and I'm tired of pretending it doesn't. Tonight I'm asking myself the question I've been avoiding: Am I building something meaningful, or just too scared to admit I chose wrong? The data doesn't lie. But neither does this hollow feeling in my chest every time I swipe my ID card. Maybe tomorrow I'll have an answer. Maybe tomorrow I'll just keep going anyway. #Science #GradSchoolCrossroads #AcademicBurnout00Share
