Have you ever wondered what your advisor struggled with as a graduate student? What they struggle with now? Growing up in science is a conversation series featuring personal narratives of becoming and being a scientist, with a focus on the unspoken challenges of a life in science. Growing up in Science was started in 2014 at New York University and is now worldwide. This article describes the origin and impact of the series. At a typical Growing up in Science event, one faculty member shares their life story, with a focus on struggles, failures, doubts, detours, and weaknesses. Common topics include dealing with expectations, impostor syndrome, procrastination, luck, rejection, conflicts with advisors, and work-life balance, life outside academia but these topics are always embedded in the speaker’s broader narrative. Cortex Club is hosting its first Growing up in science event! Join us on Friday the 31st July at 4pm for hearing the unofficial story of Dr André Marques-Smith, computational neuroscientist at CoMind (read his official and unofficial story at https://cortexclub.com/event/growing-up-in-science-oxford/). Details to join the talk will be circulated via the mailing list (to join our mailing list, follow the instructions at https://cortexclub.com/join-us/).