How can I be helpful at an internship?

MWolf
Sun, 09 Jun 2024 17:15:57 +0000

My daughter did a summer internship between her Junior and Senior years in a neuroscience lab. She read the articles and also understood only a part of it too. Then she did internships as a college student and understood more, and was able to participate a lot more in the academic discussions. She’s now a lab tech for a couple of years and is able to figure out her own projects.

The most important parts of a high school internship is to learn to understand the science a bit more, learn about lab techniques, and the different tasks that need to get done, and, no less important, learn the dynamics of a lab. Because of her high school internship my daughter didn’t need to spend as much time figuring out where she may be needed, what parts of the lab work she can do, and how to get the most out of her time at the lab.

e_w_13:

This makes me worried because I’m not sure I’m ready to do research at this level.

Of course you’re not ready to do research at that level. Neither are the undergraduate interns, and the graduate students are there to learn how to do research at that level. The best musician with the most talent still needs to learn how to play the instrument.

e_w_13:

I guess I was just wondering if interns are supposed to be able to keep up with the concepts and materials, or if it’s okay to just do simple things like organizing data or cleaning or whatever.

It’s OK to only do stuff the “simple” stuff, which is well within the skill set of a smart and talented rising Junior, and is critical to running the lab. You should try and figure out what the lab is doing, but you do not need to demonstrate the level of understanding that would be expected, say, from a grad students or even an undergrad.

No one will expect from you to perform stuff that the grad students or the undergraduates, so don’t worry. Doing your best is not only enough, but more than enough.

Be curious, be proactive, ask questions, and listen to the answers.

Reading your posts, I think that you will do great,

Good luck!