Around six months ago, my mother and I donned our rain jackets for the second time (the first was in January, for the Women’s March) and boarded the metro from Crystal City to the National Mall so that we could attend the March for Science.

It’s been around six months since then, which has prompted me to ask what’s happened since then.

I remember the day of the March clearly; I’d spent the previous couple of days making signs for my mom and me on poster paper, and I was disappointed because the pouring rain in D.C. meant that neither of our signs lasted more than a half hour.

My disappointment, though, was overshadowed by the feeling of community I’d only felt once before--three months earlier, at the Women’s March-- and the passion of fighting for what I believe in, what I love. Science is a huge part of my life, and walking through D.C. with so many other scientists of all kinds made me feel validated.

Although there is still some controversy around the March, it started a movement for scientists to get more involved in politics and the legislative process, which is something that has been a long time coming. It inspired scientists who have for so long been politically inactive because of the necessarily unbiased nature of our work to become more educated and active.

Most of all, though, it informed the world that those of us who have dedicated our lives to the pursuit of truth will not stand by and let a society that finds the phrase “alternative facts” acceptable become normal.

We let it be known that we weren’t going to be censored when reporting our research, no matter what the results may be. And honestly, I think we reminded ourselves that we have something to fight for here, a society where scientific and technological advancement is normal and even somewhat commonplace. We raised awareness among our own community and others for issues that don’t get much attention in the media.

Of course, there are still issues. The world is far from perfect, and we still have plenty to work for and strive towards. Awareness is still not where it should be, and government funding is still in jeopardy.

We have a lot more work to do, but seeing how far we as a community have come because of the March, I’m confident we will be able to come together and make a difference as many times as we need to. While our work may have to remain apolitical, we ourselves have no such limitation.