One challenge of postdoctoral training is that building a professional community takes intention. Without classes or a large cohort, postdocs can spend years within a single laboratory, making it easy for professional networks to remain small. For postdocs at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (ACH), physical distance from Baltimore adds another layer. As president of the ACH Postdoctoral Association, strengthening those connections has been one of my goals.
This year marked the first time ACH postdocs helped organize the Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Association Annual Conference. The conference delivered exactly what I had hoped for: new connections, practical professional development advice, and a stronger sense of belonging within the Hopkins community. Yet one idea continued to resonate long after the conference ended: the importance of making the invisible parts of scientific training visible.
In an unexpected moment of conference-day scrambling, I was asked to introduce Dr. Sharon Milgram, a Johns Hopkins postdoctoral alumna, before her keynote speech. It was a small role, but a meaningful one. Years earlier, I had encountered Dr. Milgram’s Becoming a Resilient Scientist series, which she created through the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education. It gave language to challenges that many scientists-in-training experience but rarely discuss openly. Standing at the podium to introduce someone whose work had shaped my own perspective on resilience reminded me why showing up matters.
During her keynote, Dr. Milgram described resilience not as the ability to bounce back immediately, but as the process of thoughtfully navigating difficult times. That perspective resonated with me because resilience is often framed as an individual responsibility. We are encouraged to adapt, manage stress, and keep moving forward. Those skills are important, but they cannot, by themselves, solve unhealthy systems or unrealistic expectations.
What stayed with me most, however, was not simply her definition of resilience. It was her willingness to make difficult conversations part of scientific training. By creating space to openly discuss uncertainty, failure, conflict, self-doubt, and the emotional weight of research, she made those experiences feel less isolating. In doing so, she demonstrated that openness is not separate from scientific culture. It is part of what makes that culture stronger.
The same theme surfaced throughout the day. Dr. Kimiko Krieger, assistant professor at JHU, encouraged postdocs to build a personal mentoring committee, or “board of directors,” rather than relying on a single mentor. Her message acknowledged something that often goes unsaid: no one person can provide every kind of guidance needed throughout a scientific career. Later, during a grant-writing panel, postdocs who had successfully secured competitive funding openly shared the lessons they had learned about developing stronger proposals. They were doing something more important than offering advice. They were helping other trainees navigate challenges that often remain unspoken.
Again and again, experienced scientists chose transparency over mystique.
That idea stayed with me because many of the skills that determine success in academic science are rarely taught explicitly. We learn experimental design, statistics, and scientific writing through formal training. Yet many of the experiences that shape a research career, including finding mentors, navigating setbacks, writing grants, balancing competing demands, and maintaining well-being, are often learned only through experience. Many of those experiences involve failure, rejection, or uncertainty, and because they are often faced in private, they can remain invisible to others. They become visible when people are willing to share their stories honestly.
I attended the conference hoping to strengthen connections across Hopkins campuses. I left with something even more valuable: a renewed appreciation for what those connections make possible. Scientific communities are sustained when experienced scientists openly share not only what they know, but also what they have lived through. By making the invisible parts of scientific training visible, we create a culture where scientists at every stage can grow, connect, and succeed together.
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