Tracknation♛

In graduate school, you are training to become an independent researcher, that's basically the whole idea. The common ideal archetype is the "multiple first-author papers grad student who never needs help nor asks questions". And while being able to lead a project to the natural conclusion of a paper is an integral skill, it's rarely done alone or entirely independently. In truth, research is typically very collaborative and it's rare to work alone.

My more recent interpretation of becoming an "independent researcher" is more about learning how to be responsible for your own work. This means taking the initiative to see it complete and correct. This can look like asking for advice from other experts, teaching collaborators so they can get up to speed, or double checking that your work is consistent with other literature/logic.