To stay or to go - where should I choose to go for my next summer studentship? I’m entering my first year of university this September and just finishing my second summer as a research student. Both summers have been an absolute blast, and I’ve gotten to learn how to do westerns, PCR, RNA extraction, DNA genotyping, ELISA’s, and I’ve gotten to dabble around with excel which previously, I was totally unfamiliar with. I’ve also gotten a little experience with animal work, just mice for now, but that has been pretty cool too. The lab I’m currently in is an AMAZING environment to keep developing my skill set and tacking on new techniques. Everyone is super friendly and keen to help me which I appreciate a lot. I’m getting my name on a publication for the first time which is huge - I know that some people don’t even have publications until their first or second year of their PhD! So I’m really, really happy about this, I don’t mean to humblebrag but I am aware of how lucky I am to have ended up in this lab. If I come back for a third summer, I’ll likely be working with one of the PhD’s who is super kind, and honestly funny as fuck. He’s a total joy to be around and just has this uplifting personality, which is great for long days when things aren’t going as planned. BUT - I honestly don’t enjoy the topic of the research. We mainly deal with cardiovascular health and diabetes, which doesn’t particularly interest me to be honest, and it’s definitely not what I want to do in the long run. Personally, I’d love to do research in perinatology, longevity/anti-aging, or maybe even dermatology. But I just know that this field isn’t my calling and I don’t really want to pursue it. My PI is pretty well established, and has quite a few connections that could probably help me land a spot in another lab within the fields I mentioned above. I think that this could be really good for me, to broaden my network of people and continue trying new things to figure out what I truly enjoy and want to pursue in grad school, so I don’t waste 4-6 years of my life on a topic I’m not even excited about! Also I’m socially awkward and pretty introverted, and moving labs would push me out of my comfort zone, which I think would probably be good for me. So LabRats, do I keep adding to my list of skills while I’m still young and lab placement really doesn’t matter, or should I try and find my passion now rather than wasting time in a lab that is irrelevant to my interests?

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