An Inside Look at Psychological Research
Jewel Lee, a developmental psychology major, came to her internship at Yale University hoping to learn more about psychological research and whether it was the right path for her. As a research assistant, she has been able to take part in the work of a professional lab, including running studies and working with research data. The experience has given her a clearer picture of what a career in psychological research looks like and strengthened her interest in pursuing the field. Learn more below!
How did you find your internship?
I was referred to this lab by my UMN lab PI.
What do you like most about your internship? What have you learned from this experience?
I love that the things I'm learning actually relate to what I want to do in my future career. I was worried that the lab would mostly be busywork, but we actually work on tasks that directly relate to what we would normally do in a research setting such as running studies, scoring and analyzing data, and other lab tasks. It helps a lot that the work environment is also pretty nice, with a clean lab space and friendly coworkers/superiors.
How did your internship help you discern what you do or don't want to do in a future job?
This internship has provided a lot of perspective on the field of psychological research and what should be expected from working in a professional lab. Fortunately, this experience ended up strengthening my desire to pursue research. Being able to talk to other researchers and graduate students helped me out a lot with the specifics of my career trajectory as well, since these meetings allowed me to ask questions and learn about their own paths. I feel confident about what I want my future job to look like after working in this internship.
Tip for future Gophers around internships?
Talk to the other interns and form connections; network with peers and superiors while you have the opportunity; avoid being negative because these feelings can really worsen the experience you get out of your internship; remember that you're there to learn skills above anything else; please make sure that it's an internship you'll like! It can be hard to tell at first, but make sure your goals align as much as possible.
