I liked the amount of responsibility that my Research adviser entrusted in me!
What I wish was different
Advice
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ITS Consultant
May - August 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
Meeting People and Building People Person Skills
What I wish was different
Work environment and the way in which training happened. The work environment was a little bit hostile and inefficient due to treatment by some managers and the lack of proper training for student workers.
Advice
Make sure to seek out training when you do not get any training. Also make sure to express what you think is wrong to Human Resources when that wrong thing happens.
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Independent Research
June - August 2017 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
The freedom to just delve deeply into a topic of independent research that is not something one usually experiences in a class
What I wish was different
I wish I had had even more time-- the ten weeks I had were the maximum allowance for a Pomona College Summer Undergraduate Research Project (SURP), but it still felt like not enough (of course, I can always continue studying my project (similarities and differences in the immigrant rights are discussed in the fields of political philosophy, politics, and sociology) on my own, but having the support available through the SURP program was very encouraging.
Advice
I suppose this is perhaps most relevant for me, given what I just answered in the previous question about what I wish had been different, but I think I would advise myself to not think I have to, or even can, exhaust research on my topic over the course of ten weeks. It definitely is better to just have a project with set parameters and boundaries (which will often narrow even further as the project progresses), and keep a document with areas of possible future inquiry.
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Research Assistant
June - August 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
I enjoyed being presented with a work opportunity that allowed me to determine whether I would want to do this as a full- time job.
What I wish was different
I wouldve liked to have been given more time to work on my experiments
Advice
Try it out! The best thing about being on-campus doing research is that you are in a comfortable setting and still being able to see if research is the right option for you.
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PAYS Summer Teaching Assistant
June - July 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
During the program, I worked with high school students and basically helped them through the program, which aims to help students from low income/ first gen backgrounds get into good colleges. It was really fun working with the students, helping them think critically to solve math problems and answer essay topics. But even more fulfilling was when we weren't doing work, and we hung out outside and played games and ate together and talked about anything and everything. Even at only 14/15, these students had impressively brilliant minds and it was really meaningful to try and find how many shoes can be made out of a cow at 10 AM and then switch to talking about relationship drama by 6 PM. All in all, it was a very fulfilling experience.
What I wish was different
I wish it had been longer! The students themselves are only around for 4 weeks, and while it does feel like a long time, 4 weeks goes by really fast and then it's over. Plus, I think, for the students, it's harder to try and keep everything they're learning and experiencing in when they only have 4 weeks to process it and then it's back to summer vacation.
Advice
I would say that if you're planning on working with high school students, an approach I found effective was to not act like you're above them. While it is important that they have your respect, I found that students at that age respond better to mentors/teachers that aren't afraid to be open and honest with them, and who are willing to not treat them like they're beneath them. They already have parents at home and actual teachers at school who are probably gonna treat them like that, anyway.
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Psychology Summer Research Assistant
May - July 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
Working with other students through SURP and learning more about research
What I wish was different
Starting to think about a research project earlier
Advice
Do it! Life on campus is very different in the summer and having more time to dedicate to research than during the school year is helpful.
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Undergraduate Research Assistant
May - July 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
I loved that I could create my own procedures and work without any set instructions. I was able to work with others to create different procedures depending on the results we obtained, which was a lot less rigid than in-class labs.
What I wish was different
I wish it had been longer, as we would have been able to find out more about bacterial biofilms that we were studying. I
Advice
Keeping lab notebooks updated is very important so that mistakes can be pointed out according to the results. It is also important to ask the Research Supervisor questions if something is unclear so that mistakes are caught and preferably avoided.
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Service Desk Consultant
June - August 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
I loved helping students, faculty, and staff by diagnosing then fixing their computer issues.
What I wish was different
I wish I had more opportunities to get up and go around campus.
Advice
Make sure you listen closely to every direction you are given, because some jobs you are given can be very tedious.
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OA Coordinator
June - August 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
What I wish was different
Advice
You get out what you put in!
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Psychologist Research Assistant
May - June 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
Running participant visits and gaining hands-on experience in a lab! It was very rewarding to work with longitudinal data and see participant progression unfold in real time.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Summer Undergraduate Researcher
May - August 2018 • Maputo, Mozambique
What I liked
I liked the opportunity to ask a question and going through the physical process of searching for answers: interviewing people, experiencing and analysing art to search answers on the representation of queerness in Mozambique.
What I wish was different
I wish I had a team, a group of people working with me, so we could collaborate.
Advice
Ask questions and share your experiences and problems, because you never know who has the solution.
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Sustainability Annual Report Manager
May - August 2018 • Claremont, CA
What I liked
I learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes of sustainability efforts by various departments on campus.
