When lemonade is clearly too cliche to be useful.

During the advisor selection process a year ago the stars smiled upon me, and I got my top choice. I was equally fortunate to be assigned my top pick in research project. Though I am without regret, I am exhausted. The road that began in October of last year has been rocky. Never in my life have I been so fearful of crashing and burning (literally and otherwise) so frequently.

I was selected for my project for obvious reasons - I'm awesome in unparalleled ways. Sadly, I've since learned that with great awesomeness comes great risk of complete and utter failure. The problem with being hired due to a unique skill set is that when something goes wrong, you're on your own.

The last nine months have had many nearly hopeless mornings. Time and time again I'd discover yet another flaw in my setup and have no idea what to do. Tech support would prove useless, and no one at school would know anything. The only course of action would seem to be to throw up and start filling out a Wendy's application.

As I have not yet blogged about a life as a fry cook, the reader may rightfully conclude that I eventually resolved each issue I encountered. The success of my work has done wonders for my self esteem, but I must also acknowledge the greater lesson - one that I am taught time and time again. Very few situations are truly hopeless. The best scientists know that sheer genius and force of will are incapable of fixing everything. Tough situations require more than intelligence, patience, and optimism. They sometimes require the willingness to accept failure and the energy to move on.

For every dead end and every of breakdown of plan A there is always a pathway to something better.