"PROGRESS" - Julia R. Migliore

Preface: As a parent, I am amazed at how much my children teach me. My daughter, Julia R. Miglorie, has written a number of inspiring thoughts that make me proud. This one from her science blog is something that I need to remember more often. Julia R Migliore (@science.magnifies) ? Instagram photos and videos

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When I started my graduate school research, I felt weird about throwing out slides after imaging (even though they would “go bad” in just a few days). So… I didn’t. ?? ♀?

I put them in a box instead.

Over the next year of troubleshooting with no good results, I ended each imaging day more and more frustrated. I was still in the habit of putting my slides in my box, and I decided to label that box “PROGRESS” despite feeling like it really should be labeled “nothing but absolute trash.”

The second year, my frustrations and burnout on the project worsened. There were days I hated walking back to the lab just to put my stupid slides into my stupid box, but let me tell you: I am glad I did it anyway.

My PROGRESS box became a visual reminder of the work I had put into my project. My PROGRESS box made it just a tiny bit easier to choose to see my past attempts as steps toward the ones that would finally work out.

Today, post-thesis defense, cleaning up my lab space, I finally tossed the contents of my PROGRESS box into glass waste. But today I could do that with ?joy? and not with anger, knowing that my two overflowing boxes of "progress" eventually yielded 18 figures in the results chapter of a completed Master’s thesis. If you’re feeling burnt out or resenting “wasted” time, I hope this might encourage you to look at the progress you’ve already made ??

Written by Julia Racine Migliore

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