Science is often shown as a series of breakthroughs, but most of our days are filled with things that do not work. Plants die in the growth chamber, gels run wrong, data make no sense, and yet we come back the next morning to try again.
 
That invisible work, the part that never makes it to publications or press releases, is where growth really happens. It teaches us to be patient, to be humble, and to support each other through uncertainty.
 
I often think of how plants approach failure. When a leaf is damaged, the plant does not give up. It redirects energy, repairs, and starts again from another node. It learns from stress, adapts, and keeps growing quietly and persistently. In many ways, science is the same. We experiment, we adapt, and we grow stronger through challenge.
 
Over time, I have learned that success in science is not just about persistence, but about community. It is the colleague who patiently listens and helps come up with a new idea, the mentor who reminds you that a failed control is not a failed scientist, the student who dares to ask a hard question.
 
Every result, even the ones that do not fit, moves us forward.
And every scientist, like every plant, carries resilience built from invisible work.