What is your academic program?
I am in the Microbiology program
Where did you work?
For my first job I was a research assistant helping one of Dr. Choy’s PhD students working on genome editing of human cells so I was doing a lot of cell culture, solo work in the lab and a bit of data analysis working with genetic software. So I was helping her with her PhD while also having my own small project on the side which involved optimizing primers.
The job that I am currently working is as a vet assistant at the Cat Clinic which is brand new for me because I have dogs and have never worked with cats before. Definitely a steep learning curve at first because I don’t have a veterinary background but it has been great. I have been able to do a lot of scribing and monitoring during surgery, assisting in explaining diagnoses to clients, helping fill medications, assisting in preparing the surgery suite..
Why did you join co-op?
I didn’t have a great idea of what I wanted to do after I graduated so I was looking to gain some experience in the field that I was studying; see if I could explore jobs that were interesting to me and could help me figure out a path after I was done my undergrad. Although I don’t have a decision made, it has helped me rule some things out and encouraged me to try some other things.
How did co-op meet your expectations?
It definitely has met my expectations as it has helped me learn what I like and what I don’t like and encourage me to look into some options that I hadn’t necessarily thought of before.
What have been your favourite aspects of your co-op experiences?
One thing that I took away from working in the lab was just generally gaining confidence in the lab. In my first year of undergrad labs I was very shy and it was very nerve-wracking for me.
After going through a four month coop of working in the lab everyday, a lot of those skills get hammered home and now I am able to go back on campus and my labs are going so much more smoothly, I know what questions to ask, you know where to get good articles from etc. Once you apply what you learn in first year it really gets solidified.
For the cat clinic coop, I have really liked getting exposed to the medical/veterinary field which not a lot of people get a chance to see as an undergrad. So that has been very nice, going from working in a three-person lab to a big crew so I have gained some people skills.
Do you have any advice for future co-op students?
When applying for jobs, don’t limit yourself, apply for jobs outside of Victoria, it is part of the coop experience and it is a period of growth when you move away for a period of time to do your work term. In the first couple of weeks just make sure you are asking questions.
You will be learning lots of new things in the first couple of weeks and getting used to the people you are working with. So reaching out to people that you are working with and asking them about their experience and what you can do to progress and grow goes a long way.
By the end of your work term you can then try to go past the expectations laid out for you and that’s when other opportunities crop up. For me, I was able to stay in the lab and keep working as a work-study student.