Brigham Young University

Research Assistant

October 2017 • Provo, UT

What I liked

I worked closely with a professor in my program and with research participants. I loved the opportunity to glean knowledge from my professor who is running the project. I also really enjoyed performing research. I got to see language development in action and make preliminary observations about that, which was incredible.

What I wish was different

I wish I'd had more hours. The project works through a grant and so we had to be careful with the funds to make them last as long as they needed to.

Advice

Don't be afraid to ask questions! Working with actual research participants can seem daunting but they're always very kind. It's better to ask and to gain understanding than to feel like you don't belong or you're doing something stupid.

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Research Assistant

July 2018 • Provo, UT

What I liked

I love doing research and working with participants! I was collecting data for a study on artificial sweeteners on cognition. Fun stuff.

What I wish was different

The hours were kind of rough-- but that's the nature of the study.

Advice

Research is a great opportunity to learn different things and to make relationships with teachers and mentors. I did it because I want to go into research and it's solidified that desire.

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Accounting Specialist

January - October 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

My supervisors were great, I learned a lot from them

What I wish was different

I wish I had a greater overall understanding of what we did as an organization rather than just about the 3-5 tasks they had me do

Advice

Work hard and learn from everyone you can

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Camp Counselor

May - July 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

I liked helping kids learn about biochemistry.

What I wish was different

I wish I had smaller groups of kids

Advice

You have to like kids and teaching to do well as a Biochemistry camp Counselor!

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Psychologist Research Assistant

June - August 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

Professors were so nice that they guided me provided support

What I wish was different

I wish the internship could be longer

Advice

Knowing what you wanna do in graduate school then you can pick something you want, not exploring over.

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Research Assistant

July 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

Getting to work directly with a professor and having a more direct experience.

What I wish was different

More involved and not as much just contacting different people, but more analysis on things.

Advice

Ask for more experience, ask to get more involved. They want you to gain experience as much as you want it.

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EFY camp counselor

May - September 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

I loved working with youth! I also developed so many important profession skills from working with coworkers and supervisors.

What I wish was different

I wish the pay had been a little more. We work long days, and the pay is low for that.

Advice

If you love youth, you'll love this job! But keep in mind that most counselors do it more for the experience than the money.

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EFY

July - August 2019 • Buena Vista, VA

What I liked

It was wonderful working with kids and teaching them. It helped be to be attentive and to listen.

What I wish was different

I wish we would have more breaks in between our shift.

Advice

If you want to help others grow and you yourself want to grow, this is the job for you!

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Graduate Researcher

August 2018 • Provo, UT

What I liked

The environment on campus is very similar to that of BYU-Idaho. Everyone I work with has been very welcoming and helpful as I learn more about what I am working on.

What I wish was different

As a physics graduate student, there were a few math classes I wish I had taken. In general, there are not too many things I would change.

Advice

If you have a deep desire to constantly learn, challenge yourself, and discover new knowledge about the things you are interested in, consider a graduate degree in research.

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

January 2018 • Provo, UT

What I liked

Nuclear Engineering Research is great! Way fun.

What I wish was different

I honestly don't know. Started earlier? They were happy to have me.

Advice

Go talk to Professors about research!! They're great. When you're looking for internships/jobs, talk to start ups, they are sometimes willing to hire people with no experience.

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

May 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

I liked being able to apply the skills I learned from my major to my work. I also liked the flexibility of the work hours. I was able to set my own schedule up to 40 hours per week.

What I wish was different

My coworker and I both started at the same time and we were the only ones researching this particular project, so we had to figure out where the previous researchers had left off. It would have been nice to have the previous group's notes or a summary explaining what they had done, what they had intended to do next, and how to run the experiments.

Advice

Leave notes for future researchers (and your professor) about the process you follow as well as the progress you make and what you want done after you leave.

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

September 2017 • Provo, UT

What I liked

Flexibility and ability to develop good skills for future graduate school research.

What I wish was different

More industry applicability

Advice

Especially worth it the earlier in your undergraduate career that you can pull it off!

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

October 2018 • Provo, UT

What I liked

The opportunity to contribute directly to medical research as an undergraduate was wonderful. I also got to work with an excellent team of undergraduates who worked diligently and were also helpful the entire time we worked together.

What I wish was different

I wish I had taken the initiative to work more hours and make more progress in the research.

Advice

Write everything down. It helps clarify your processes as you work on them and helps the research continue and progress as you work with others and (eventually) leave the work behind for others to continue.

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

April 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

I loved learning about the process of publishing a paper, and about how students and professors work together to create new research I enjoyed studying control systems and collision avoidance algorithms in depth and seeing how the application of those algorithms can help people

What I wish was different

Advice

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EFY Youth counselor

June - August 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

I liked the chance to share my experiences and help youth have meaningful experiences of their own

What I wish was different

I wish it could've lasted longer than just the summer

Advice

Be prepared to work a lot more than 40 hours a week

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Undergraduate Research Assistant

May 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

Great hands-on experience Able to work independently

What I wish was different

Better wage

Advice

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Research Assistant

February 2018 • Provo, UT

What I liked

Hard work in the lab I work in translates into publications; I have four so far.

What I wish was different

I worked with one PhD scholar who was rude and arrogant, but that is not a reflection on BYU, but a reflection of that kid.

Advice

Work hard!

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Research Assistant

August 2017 • Provo, UT

What I liked

I loved that I got to create my own research project and run it.

What I wish was different

I wish I was better able to use my time wisely so I could have spent more time on it.

Advice

Don't be afraid to reach out to mentors and get experiences!

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Gardening and Maintenance Worker

May - August 2019 • Provo, UT

What I liked

It was a fun environment with good co-workers and a lay back boss who cared about us. It was hard work which was good because it made the time go by very fast.

What I wish was different

We didn't have a lot of workers last summer and so we did a lot of extra work which made some days where we were doing twice maybe even three times the work normally done.

Advice

It's not that hard of a job to apply for, the office is always hiring, but be prepared to work, there is a reason they pay 10 dollars an hour for this job. You definitely move around a lot.

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