PhD Journal Of A Ghanaian Woman in Stem

I was scrolling through my gallery when I came across a picture of my cactus (left). It was one of the plants I bought when I first moved into my apartment. I was surprised by it. It looked small, cute, and nothing like the thing standing in my living room now. The only reason I know it grew is that I happened to take a picture the day I bought it.

In a lot of ways it reminded me of myself. I’m so much better than I was when I bought the cactus, and I didn’t notice it happening in real time either. As I close out summer ’26, that’s what I’m taking with me.

Growth is an often slow but beautiful process. Baby steps eventually lead to bigger steps.