<p>Do any of you guys and gals do workstudy?</p>
<p>I have been assigned as a lab assistant at the medical school, which is on another campus. I am doing pre-med and thought this would open my doors and prepare me for research, so I signed up for it. Little did I know that I will probably wind up washing test tubes.</p>
<p>So my questions are, if you were in my situation, would you do it? It's Wash U's med school, so it is very prestigious. I hope I can get time to talk to the professors or students there.</p>
<p>Also, is workstudy flexible? Can I decide my own hours or quit at any time?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>I just realized that my thread title is very boring and will probably get no responses. I should have put "Did I get screwed in my workstudy?" :P</p>
<p>what were you expecting to do as a lab assistant exactly?</p>
<p>Something that might help, like analyze graphs, collect data, etc. Anything that justified taking Calculus 3 and AP classes in high school.</p>
<p>But that is not really my concern anymore. I wonder if it's worth going all the way to the med school and doing semi-conscious work when I could have gotten a desk job where I could sleep or do homework.</p>
<p>Well, you're a freshman. You have to start low and work your way up (getting things too easily is never a good thing). Keep this job, do well, and stay alert to any possible ways to do more.</p>
<p>If you do this job, you'll probably get to know professors and maybe even the department head (or whatever they call them there. the head guy). I got to know alot of the profs when I had work-study in marketing department. (too bad I'm not a marketing major...) Anyway, if you do this for a while, maybe casually slip it in that you're pre-med along the way somewhere, and then perhaps once you get to know the higher ups they let you assist them with other (more pertinent to pre-med) things too.</p>
<p>I haven't done my workstudy yet, and i'm sure it varies from campus to campus, so I don't know about flexibility, but working in your department can give you connections and help you network and make friends, even if you are just working janitorial services. Workstudy is not designed to be an internship, and so this is a very good opportunity for you to earn a wage in a field you are entering rather than working in the cafeteria.</p>
<p>As for me, i'll be working in the Admissions Office at my college. Excited about that :D</p>
<p>The first part of "workstudy" is "work", and that's what you'll be doing. Suck it up. Besides, if you show that you can clean test tubes without destroying anything, maybe they'll let you do something else after a bit.</p>