by Cassidy Gaylard
Six months.
For the first time in my life, I only went home to Durban to see my family after six months away. That’s something I’ll never quite get used to.
A PhD student in my lab joked that they were surprised to see me on campus until 6 p.m. working on my project… especially since it was only May. It was oddly comforting and slightly terrifying at the same time. Comforting because it meant I wasn’t alone. Terrifying because it confirmed that this is simply what research is.
Research has a funny way of humbling you. You can spend days planning an experiment, only for it to fail spectacularly because one tiny thing went wrong. It’s like trying to bake a cake where the recipe changes halfway through, and somehow you’re expected to explain why it collapsed. But one of our lecturers told us something during the first week that has stayed with me: make friends with failure. Not because failure is enjoyable, but because it is one of the greatest teachers you’ll ever have. Every failed experiment is simply another clue pointing you toward the answer.
I’ve learned that progress in science is rarely a straight road. It’s more like hiking up Table Mountain in the mist; you can’t always see the summit, but every step still brings you closer.
Somewhere between failed experiments, looming deadlines, and endless late nights, I’ve also found incredible people in my IDI cohort.
We’ve bonded over the stress, the victories, the moments where everything works exactly as planned, and the inevitable existential crises that seem to accompany postgraduate study. Something is reassuring about being surrounded by people who care so deeply about understanding the world, whether it’s the immune system, infectious diseases, or the smallest
microbial interactions.
For the first time, I genuinely feel like I’ve found my people.
That feeling means a lot because I didn’t start university here. I actually began my degree in engineering before realising—fairly quickly—that I was trying to force a puzzle piece into the wrong space. Looking back, leaving engineering was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Being in the medical sciences feels less like finding a new path and more like finally
finding the one I was meant to be on.
That doesn’t mean I’ve suddenly figured everything out. In fact, I’ve probably changed my career plans twenty times in the past six months alone. But that’s one of the most exciting parts of being here. Every seminar introduces a career I’d never considered. Every researcher has a story that makes me think, “maybe I want to do that.” Every conversation opens another
door.
Honours isn’t just about studying. It’s about learning to balance lectures, tests, assignments, lab work, your own research project, scholarship applications, Master’s applications, conferences, networking… and somehow remembering to eat and sleep occasionally.
It’s chaotic. But it’s the kind of chaos that slowly shapes you into a scientist.
And can we talk about how inspiring this faculty is?
Our lecturers casually teach us as though they’re our colleagues, yet many trained at places like Oxford and Cambridge, collaborate with world-leading researchers, and personally know Nobel Laureates. It’s surreal. If you ever need reminding of what’s possible, spend a day wandering through this faculty. Ambition has a way of becoming contagious.
My classmates have equally inspired me. We have medical students in our cohort who somehow manage to juggle clinical medicine alongside everything our Honours programme demands. Watching the dedication, resilience and brilliance of the people around me has been incredibly motivating.
These past six months have challenged me more than I expected. They’ve stretched my confidence, my resilience and my ability to embrace uncertainty. They’ve also reminded me why I fell in love with science in the first place.
Science isn’t about always having the answers. It’s about being curious enough to keep asking better questions.
So here’s to failed experiments, late evenings in the lab, friendships built over shared stress, discovering opportunities I never knew existed, and slowly becoming the scientist I hope to be. I look forward to diving deep into my project over the next 6 months.
Because after every long night in the lab, there really is another morning!
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