I wanted to share this poem on mountain climbing because it is so true of the research journey! We get a goal in mind (climb a mountain; ask a research question) and it seems easy and straight forward: start at the bottom, climb to the top. Easy peasy. For your first RQ, you take a chance and go for it… usually to find out it’s not a straight path and it’s way harder than you thought! Hopefully you made it trough the climb, but if not you still were able to see new heights — which is always inspiring! In fact, it pulls you to come back and try again or try a different mountain/RQ. On the next climbs you’ll be more prepared for the challenge, the joy, the struggle, the inspiration, the twists in the trail … but it’s never easier. And as you complete one trip/project you find yourself already planning the next. So I hope you continue to embrace your research journeys!
As scared as I was,
I remember climbing my first mountain.
Then there was a second
That wasn’t as demanding.
The third one was a task
Because it was much too rocky to be easy,
And the fourth one was intimidating
As much as it was frightening.
The fifth one was intriguing
And the six was the most humbling
Experience up until then.
The seventh, I thought, would be my last one
But alas, I’m climbing an eighth mountain.
I fell in love
Climbing up the first one,
I took a chance
Climbing up the second.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy
But I took a chance with the third,
And I wanted to go higher
And higher after the fourth.
I wanted something different
From the fifth,
And I very much enjoyed
The smooth scaling of the sixth.
I was too careless
Thinking I had enough experience for the seventh,
But I learned my lesson,
And not taking it easy on this next trip
— by Arturo Hernandez Jun 2014
