Has anything changed?

Friday, October 4th, 2020 - It's been 8 years since I started university. Yet at this moment I'm still a student. Still running to class. Still doing homework at 3 am. Still can't afford durian. It seems like nothing much has changed in almost a decade, and sometimes this constant monotony of work and life can really make me question the road that I took and the work that I've put in so far. I wonder to myself, "Have I really learned enough to be a professional scientist?" or "Do I feel confident and wise enough to mentor my own students?"

Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič on Unsplash

Often it seems like I've learned everything and nothing at the same time. There is just so much to learn about science in general, and every time I begin reading about something related to my research such as fluid dynamics or sensitivity analysis I feel overwhelmed because each answer I gain leads to more questions. It feels as if I haven't made any progress at all! Hopefully after I complete my PhD projects I'll feel like I've gotten somewhere and feel more confident about myself. It's uncertain where my research will take me, but what is certain is that I'm in it for the long haul. It really helps to stay positive, take breaks, and remember what the ultimate goal of my journey is at the end of the day: establishing myself as an expert of plastic pollution science!