Research and Wheat Fields are Pretty Similar

I could never understand why people went skydiving, climbed mountains without gear, or went cave diving. But, after doing research, I kind of get it.  

The first time I entered a field of research, I was utterly lost. I felt like I was in a literal wheat field. No compass, no map, no understanding of the terrain. Just me, standing in the center of an endless expanse of golden stalks, spinning in circles with my eyes closed, picking a direction at random and hoping it was right. Usually, it wasn’t. I’d trudge forward, hit a dead end, turn around, and pick another direction. Around and around the circle I went until finally, I found the path forward.

That first project was bioinformatics. Looking back now, I can picture myself in a helicopter hovering above that conquered field, surveying the ground I covered with a mixture of pride and exhaustion. But the beautiful thing is that there are so many other academic fields waiting for me to fly to next. On my list are the Cell Biology Field and the Machine Learning Field. Someday, I’ll land my helicopter in the center of each one and find my way again. This time, I’ll have better intuition about what the direction the wheat blows means, and more resilience and trust that I’ll make it through.

Research is my version of scaling Mount Everest. Some people seek that dopamine rush by climbing mountains or diving into ocean trenches. I get it from the comfort of my own home or a lab, navigating the unknown until I emerge on the other side, breathless and exhilarated. That massive burst of satisfaction when I look back and realize how far I’ve come and how much I’ve learned is why I keep coming back.

Someday, I imagine myself hovering in that helicopter, looking down at a whole continent of fields I’ve conquered. Not the whole globe, though. That would take lifetimes. But enough land to say I explored, I discovered, I contributed (“Exploravi, inveni, afferavi” – Chloe) :). And in the meantime, I’ll keep spinning in circles in the center of new wheat fields, trusting that I’ll find my way again. Because the reward at the end is worth every wrong turn.