<p>For past experiences, I think it’s obvious that one should use past tense.</p>
<p>I’m currently writing a statement of purpose. I am currently doing a summer internship. Prior to the internship, I was working at a lab at my school. I will return to this lab after my internship. I was just wondering what tense is appropriate for describing my experience at this lab? It seems that if I use past tense, it will make it look like I don’t work at this lab anymore.</p>
<p>I would describe it in the past tense, since you are describing work that you already did in the past. You can mention that you plan to return to this lab in the fall to clarify that you are still continuing at this lab, but if you’re primarily talking about experiences and projects that already happened, I would suggest past tense.</p>
<p>Describe what you do in the tense that’s appropriate. If you still work there, use present tense (“We are working on…” “I am currently doing…”) You can describe some things in the lab in past tense and others in present tense. You can clear up any confusion by announcing “In fall 2012, I began working in the HUB lab at my university, and I plan to continue working there throughout 2013-2014” or something like that.</p>
<p>But most professors understand that sometimes students do summer research internships away from their labs, but continue working there when they return in the fall.</p>