What encouraged me to continue to graduate school was the first thing I heard when I visited the lab: "don't follow existing trends, create new ones." In graduate school, I conducted research on mitophagy, a mitochondrial quality control mechanism, but in actuality, I had never heard of it before entering graduate school and was interested in a different research field, so it’s a bit strange how I came across it at all. After entering graduate school, I immersed myself in the free research atmosphere. By participating in events such as international conferences, I gained experience in interacting with researchers I only knew from papers. Of course, research was not always fun and had its ups and downs, but now I am continuing my research in a laboratory in the Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing, Germany, under the supervision of a leading researcher I have admired since I was a graduate student. The Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences has many world-class, unique professors. The thought that it would be interesting to do research with them is also an important factor when deciding on a laboratory. Please cherish the people you meet and make your time in research meaningful.