Almost a year ago I wrote about moving to a new lab and whether this was the right decision for me. At the time it seemed to have a lot of perks. Having been there for 6 months, I regret the decision in some ways…well, most.
For starters, I find that even though “you don’t have to like someone to work with them” (thanks, PI), that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to happily work with them. I do not enjoy having someone monitor my schedule. It is incredibly stressful to have every hour of every day allocated in some way. Jesus, is this how it’s like having a real job? Well, I have my hours tracked when I’m at work, and that doesn’t bother me…Maybe it’s just in a lab setting that it bothers me. I don’t know. But some days the next four months seem impossible.
Also, I have learned that I will thoroughly investigate any potential supervisors I have to the extreme. Even if they seem nice to begin with.
The unhappiness I feel at working in this environment is cutting into how I feel about the work itself. I don’t know if I’m being weak by letting that happen, or if I need to take more charge of how I feel about things, but it’s depressing either way. I need to get out of here and into a lab where I’m happy and can work normally. Unfortunately that will have to wait for grad school.
ThinkASAP 
Leave a comment