So I got a new job on campus at my college. I'm a research assistant for a biomedical engineering group that a professor runs. SUCH a good resume booster, right? I was stoked to get the job. Right now my project is working on football padding. It looks like this.
My professor/boss man told me when I got hired that for the first couple months they would basically tell me everything I need to do and I would highly supervised. Cool. Then this is how the conversation went when I got my first assignment for making the prototype.
Professor : So we have some problems with the prototype.
Me: Okay
Professor: The foam is sticking to the mold and the polycarbonate gets bubbles in it.
Me: Okay
Professor: It is your job to fix this.
Me: Uhh.....
That is basically how this job goes. Moral of the story? Don't trust your boss.
Anyways, that is an intro to how this job works. I have felt over my head since the beginning. Plus, half of my co-workers are in grad school. Kind of intimidating. Now let's get to the real story.
Every week the entire lab gets together to discuss our progress at a weekly meeting. The meeting is in a room that has two entrances. Once entrance has no window and is right by the elevator, but it is always locked. To get to the other entrance you have to go through a couple rooms to get around back. Clearly the entrance near the elevator is the better choice because it saves me a whole 20 seconds of walking. The only problem is that it is always locked. I always walked around to the other entrance, but my co-worker Peter usually just knocks on the door because someone inside will open the door for him. One week I was walking towards the room with two of the PhD students that intimidate me SO bad because they are so smart. For the first time ever I thought, "Hey, I'll be cool and save time in front of these guys. It'll be great and then they will be so impressed." So I go over and knock on the door. Unfortunately, a different professor was having a meeting in there with his lab and they were running over slightly. He opened the door and when I noticed I didn't know anybody in there my face flared red from embarrassment. [Once my face starts to get red, I get embarrassed that it is red so it just turns more red. It is a cruel, cruel cycle.] The professor then tells me "We are almost done, you can come in." I replied, "Oh. No, that's okay." and he says, "No, really, come in. We will be quick." The whole time the grad students are walking past snickering. I sit in the corner of this meeting for maybe five minutes and they aren't ending. I get so embarrassed I just get up and leave without saying a word. I'm not really the "suave" type of person. As I exit, the two PhD students who saw the whole ordeal earlier were laughing and telling another PhD student about what happened to me. In my mind I thought, "Oh great, they will remember this for the rest of their lives and they will never be impressed by anything I do. My life is over. I can't pretend that that didn't just happen, so I guess I have to face it like a man," and then out loud I said, "I am so embarrassed." That was probably the biggest understatement that has ever come out of my mouth. They just laughed it off and moved on with their lives. But I am scarred forever.
My professor/boss man told me when I got hired that for the first couple months they would basically tell me everything I need to do and I would highly supervised. Cool. Then this is how the conversation went when I got my first assignment for making the prototype.
Professor : So we have some problems with the prototype.
Me: Okay
Professor: The foam is sticking to the mold and the polycarbonate gets bubbles in it.
Me: Okay
Professor: It is your job to fix this.
Me: Uhh.....
That is basically how this job goes. Moral of the story? Don't trust your boss.
Anyways, that is an intro to how this job works. I have felt over my head since the beginning. Plus, half of my co-workers are in grad school. Kind of intimidating. Now let's get to the real story.
Every week the entire lab gets together to discuss our progress at a weekly meeting. The meeting is in a room that has two entrances. Once entrance has no window and is right by the elevator, but it is always locked. To get to the other entrance you have to go through a couple rooms to get around back. Clearly the entrance near the elevator is the better choice because it saves me a whole 20 seconds of walking. The only problem is that it is always locked. I always walked around to the other entrance, but my co-worker Peter usually just knocks on the door because someone inside will open the door for him. One week I was walking towards the room with two of the PhD students that intimidate me SO bad because they are so smart. For the first time ever I thought, "Hey, I'll be cool and save time in front of these guys. It'll be great and then they will be so impressed." So I go over and knock on the door. Unfortunately, a different professor was having a meeting in there with his lab and they were running over slightly. He opened the door and when I noticed I didn't know anybody in there my face flared red from embarrassment. [Once my face starts to get red, I get embarrassed that it is red so it just turns more red. It is a cruel, cruel cycle.] The professor then tells me "We are almost done, you can come in." I replied, "Oh. No, that's okay." and he says, "No, really, come in. We will be quick." The whole time the grad students are walking past snickering. I sit in the corner of this meeting for maybe five minutes and they aren't ending. I get so embarrassed I just get up and leave without saying a word. I'm not really the "suave" type of person. As I exit, the two PhD students who saw the whole ordeal earlier were laughing and telling another PhD student about what happened to me. In my mind I thought, "Oh great, they will remember this for the rest of their lives and they will never be impressed by anything I do. My life is over. I can't pretend that that didn't just happen, so I guess I have to face it like a man," and then out loud I said, "I am so embarrassed." That was probably the biggest understatement that has ever come out of my mouth. They just laughed it off and moved on with their lives. But I am scarred forever.
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