I finished my K23 career development award on July 31 (Structure of Semantic Memory and its impairment in Aphasia and Dementia). This was my first grant from the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. I learned so many great things and am so proud of the work I did under this award. It protected my research time, provided resources, and really allowed me to develop as an investigator. Everyone at NIDCD was so supportive and kind. I would recommend this grant mechanism to any junior scientist.