This spring, I completed a research experience through the ASLO LOREX Program, working with Dr. Alison Derry and living in Montreal, Canada for two months. Through this experience, I learned invaluable lessons while enjoying the benefits of an international collaboration, growing as a person and as a limnologist. Confronted with newness, I conducted research in a foreign country and with an unfamiliar study system, bringing rewards, but I also had to navigate unforeseen challenges, especially as an early career scientist. For this project, I had to learn a new technique in a relatively quick timeframe, working with eDNA to explore the impact of restorative fish transplantations on aquatic communities and how those communities respond across trophic levels. I am looking forward to the progression of this project and where this learned skill will take me in my journey of exploring lake ecosystems. This experience has fostered a unique perspective on the research questions that I can ask and the data I can analyze within my own study system. In the future, I hope to be an advocate for others to connect internationally and to continue to learn seemingly daunting skills. “Newness” can be intimidating, but it can also be an opportunity and a source of empowerment.