MedPen Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Hey guys, A few days ago, a thread was started that was called "First NSERC, depressed and frustrated" where a lot of people, myself included, were talking about the disappointments they were facing during the NSERC. Well, after I read the threat, I tried to be proactive and change things. And, lo and behold, after some effort on my part and on my colleagues' part, things have gotten better, MUCH better. I guess I'm wondering how everyone else is doing. Did things also get better for you guys as you got some experience and learned about lab life or are people still not cooperating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathomimi Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 well. My nserc experience is hellish... I ve been assigned to cut wax blocks 7 hours a day for a month.....and i probably still need to do this for another month...by then, my summer will be half way done >< it is just so tedious! I don't know what to do now..I feel so frustrated. This is not what I expected from nserc. I haven't learnt any new techniques yet whereas the other honour student who started working the same time as me has been showed how to do PCR and RNA stuff....she works a couple hours a day and then spends the rest of her day reading... this is not nserc..it's cheap labour.... I broke down today, so i hid and cried in the animal room for an hour...T.T..this is the 2nd time I cried...I tried to cope with the boredom and frustration in various ways..but nothing has worked...i think i ve got to my limit... i emailed the student who worked part time last year to cut those histology blocks..she said she only worked 3 hours for each shift..but me..I work 9 to 5 on this...I feel like my brain is going to rot..my IQ is falling b/c of the lack of stimulation...T.T I am going to talk to the phd students who supervise me tomorrow..but i don't want to leave anyone a bad impression for the sake of my reference letter...any suggestion or similar experience to share??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest begaster Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 well. My nserc experience is hellish...I ve been assigned to cut wax blocks 7 hours a day for a month.....and i probably still need to do this for another month...by then, my summer will be half way done >< it is just so tedious! I don't know what to do now..I feel so frustrated. This is not what I expected from nserc. I haven't learnt any new techniques yet whereas the other honour student who started working the same time as me has been showed how to do PCR and RNA stuff....she works a couple hours a day and then spend the rest of her day reading... this is not nserc..it's cheap labour.... I broke down today, so i hid and cried in the animal room for an hour...T.T..this is the 2nd time I cried...I tried to cope with the boredom and frustration in various ways..but nothing has worked...i think i ve got to my limit... I am going to talk to the phd students who supervise me tomorrow..but i don't want to leave anyone a bad impression for the sake of my reference letter...any suggestion or similar experience to share??? Yeah. Be assertive. As you said, you are not cheap labour. Tell them you want to do something based on research and that you'll do a good job. If they refuse, do nothing of value for the rest of the summer (except collect your paycheque and make excuses as to why you didn't cut many blocks that day). If you got an NSERC this summer, you can do it again and get a reference letter from a better supervisor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In_Valid Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 well. My nserc experience is hellish...I ve been assigned to cut wax blocks 7 hours a day for a month.....and i probably still need to do this for another month...by then, my summer will be half way done >< it is just so tedious! I don't know what to do now..I feel so frustrated. This is not what I expected from nserc. I haven't learnt any new techniques yet whereas the other honour student who started working the same time as me has been showed how to do PCR and RNA stuff....she works a couple hours a day and then spends the rest of her day reading... this is not nserc..it's cheap labour.... I broke down today, so i hid and cried in the animal room for an hour...T.T..this is the 2nd time I cried...I tried to cope with the boredom and frustration in various ways..but nothing has worked...i think i ve got to my limit... i emailed the student who worked part time last year to cut those histology blocks..she said she only worked 3 hours for each shift..but me..I work 9 to 5 on this...I feel like my brain is going to rot..my IQ is falling b/c of the lack of stimulation...T.T I am going to talk to the phd students who supervise me tomorrow..but i don't want to leave anyone a bad impression for the sake of my reference letter...any suggestion or similar experience to share??? Yea research sucks. But, things could be a lot worse. You are healthy, living in a first world nation, your only real complaint is work is boring - life is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
estairella Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 Yea research sucks. But, things could be a lot worse. You are healthy, living in a first world nation, your only real complaint is work is boring - life is good. And, there are no giant spiders! /my standard response to anyone who suggests "things could be a lot worse"... because things can always be a lot worse, that doesn't mean things couldn't be much better as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pathomimi Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 what does this have to do with living in a first-world nation? I guess depression and frustration happen in all countries..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostintime Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I'm not doing an NSERC, but I guess my question is....where do we find the balance b/w doing repetitive work that doesn't require so much brains compared to constantly thinking/racking your brain and getting super stressed? I would like something in between....I guess cell culture is the brainless work, whereas my actual experiments are the ones where I am constantly going "WTF! How could this go so wrong!?!? I don't understand this data!" And my other question is...is it normal to repeat an experiment like many many times until you get it right? I find that it really really kills your confidence. I feel like I just can't escape from this experiment. Maybe other people are so intelligent that they can just get it right on the first few tries? *sighs* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In_Valid Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I'm not doing an NSERC, but I guess my question is....where do we find the balance b/w doing repetitive work that doesn't require so much brains compared to constantly thinking/racking your brain and getting super stressed? I would like something in between....I guess cell culture is the brainless work, whereas my actual experiments are the ones where I am constantly going "WTF! How could this go so wrong!?!? I don't understand this data!" And my other question is...is it normal to repeat an experiment like many many times until you get it right? I find that it really really kills your confidence. I feel like I just can't escape from this experiment. Maybe other people are so intelligent that they can just get it right on the first few tries? *sighs* haha, well I'm doing chemistry and 9 out of 10 times stuff doesn't work. I've been setting up reactions that have failed miserably for the past month. Definitely kills your confidence, but you have to remember you are just an undergrad and you are supposed to screw up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In_Valid Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 Yeah. Be assertive. As you said, you are not cheap labour. Tell them you want to do something based on research and that you'll do a good job. If they refuse, do nothing of value for the rest of the summer (except collect your paycheque and make excuses as to why you didn't cut many blocks that day). If you got an NSERC this summer, you can do it again and get a reference letter from a better supervisor. yea, if you really want to change things, talk to your supervisor. Honestly, what I am doing is 'cheap labour' as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedPen Posted May 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 haha, well I'm doing chemistry and 9 out of 10 times stuff doesn't work. I've been setting up reactions that have failed miserably for the past month. Definitely kills your confidence, but you have to remember you are just an undergrad and you are supposed to screw up. I'm doing protein chemistry and I have to constantly repeat my experiments because I screwed something up. What sucks about that is that they take a week or so to do each and in the span of a 16 week NSERC which I'm already 6 weeks into, I'm running out of time! Remembering we're undergrads and that we're supposed to screw up is hard when everyone around you is excelling in their research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In_Valid Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 lol yea I've done protein chemistry before. You can do at most 3 couplings in one day using standard solid phase chemistry. If your protein is like 21 AAs long it will take you like a week. That is if you are working 12 hours a day lol. It would suck if you messed up on the last coupling. "Asparagine??! I thought it was Aspartic Acid." lol There goes two weeks of work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futuredoc Posted May 30, 2008 Report Share Posted May 30, 2008 I'm a first year chem NSERC guy too. It isn't too bad over here, but I have been taking MILLIONS of UV-Vis specs over the last month. Luckily I actually get to make the solutions though, and everybody is really supportive. Hang in there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedPen Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 I'm a first year chem NSERC guy too. It isn't too bad over here, but I have been taking MILLIONS of UV-Vis specs over the last month. Luckily I actually get to make the solutions though, and everybody is really supportive. Hang in there! Really? UV-Vis specs? That does sound kind of boring. I'm sure after spec number 10, you were like, ya, I mastered this, what next? You don't get to set up any reactions or anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewB Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 This is my second summer of NSERC. The first one was hard...I screwed up a lot but it forced me to learn fast. My prof was great though and helped me whenever he could. Now that I know my way around the lab I get to do really cool things. I transfect neurons with DNA constructs I make myself and look at cool things they do under the microscope. It's really opened my eyes to how cool research actually is when your not just a slave and made me realize that I would like to be involved in research in the future, even as an MD. Hang in there. I did lot's of boring pointless things my first couple months. You gotta start somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In_Valid Posted May 31, 2008 Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Really? UV-Vis specs? That does sound kind of boring. I'm sure after spec number 10, you were like, ya, I mastered this, what next? You don't get to set up any reactions or anything? UV-Vis is boring but it is easy. Chromatography is lame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedPen Posted June 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2008 Chromatography is lame. What kind of chromatography? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In_Valid Posted June 1, 2008 Report Share Posted June 1, 2008 What kind of chromatography? Well, I am doing organic synthesis so I have to do columns almost everday. =\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedPen Posted June 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2008 Well, I am doing organic synthesis so I have to do columns almost everday. =\ Join the club. I'm doing protein chemistry and there is no better way to isolate those proteins than column chromatography! It's tedious work and has given rise to a new exercise fad I like to call "aerobics for scientists"... The columns are in the basement and the lab is on the second floor so every 15 minutes, up and down those stairs I go:p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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