Am I doing something detrimental? Need some insight.

[glasscandie]

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So, I got offered a f/t internship at NIMH for over the summer, and also secured a p/t position for the same lab. for the fall (summer internship was contingent on being able to work in the fall). I'm currently considering turning it down for reasons listed below, and I feel like that might be detrimental to my applications for fall 2010.

The pros of this internship is obviously it's NIH - great place to be. The lab. is exactly what I'd be doing in grad. school; the researcher I'd be working with said they'd be willing to offer me a f/t position should I not get into grad. school the first go around (which would alleviate the pressure of finding a paid RA position should I not get in anywhere). I'd be getting MRI and PET scan training, doing more behavioral work, and get to work in a wet lab. (which I have virtually no experience in). They're offering a 2,200/month stipend, which I think is pretty good, especially since I initially thought it was unpaid. There's also a NIH/Hopkins grad. program I'm going to be applying to, so it's a definite possibility to do dissertation research in the lab. I'd be working in over the summer.

I'm mostly worried and thinking about turning it down b/c it's full-time. I will be taking full-time summer classes (doing a 4 year BS in 3 years, so f/t summer classes to make up the 2 semesters - not an option to extend my undergraduate a year), and I'm worried that if I'm in Bethesda from literally 9am - 7pm (counting traffic) I'll never get schoolwork done. I have a 3 year old daughter, and I'm wondering how I'll be able to balance being a mom, being an intern, and being a student this summer. Logistically, the hours will be difficult b/c my husband works crazy hours (military) and I'm not even sure how that would work out with the pre-k program my daughter's in.

I'm worried that turning this down will be detrimental to my application, but I'm worried that taking it will be detrimental to my sanity. Is one internship at Hopkins + a clinical/sort of research internship at a small psychiatric rehab. facility enough for grad. school? 2 programs I'm applying to are clinical (with a very research-oriented program), and the rest are purely research PhD.

I did e-mail the researcher to see if I could do something like 10-2pm, but I'm not really holding my breath on that. The e-mail I got from his assistant specifically mentioned f/t.

Any thoughts before I blow my applications and turn him down next week? lol

 

[glasscandie]

Anyone know about the Bethesda area? Now I'm thinking that maybe I could do something like 8am-2pm, which is almost full-time, and would still leave me time in the afternoons for my daughter and schoolwork if I got home by 3pm. I'd be coming from the Odenton area (Fort Meade, Columbia, etc.) to Bethesda, so north to south on 495.

 

[futureapppsy2]

Will you be able to take classes if you're unavailable from 9-7 or even 8-2? Are these night classes or online classes? 😕

I'd say if there's anyway you can do this internship, do it. It sounds like an amazing experience (obviously)!

 

[glasscandie]

I thought I should mention that after I posted - I'm taking online classes over the summer lol

 

[ladysky61]

How much sleep do you require? If you don't need sleep then this is doable.

In all seriousness, is there anyway, you could do this part time or 3/4 time (such as 8-2pm?) From my understanding Bethesda traffic is horrible, too.

 

[glasscandie]

I don't know - I sent the researcher an e-mail last week, and haven't heard back; I guess I'll give him a call on Monday to see if we could work something out. 8-2 would definitely be a possibility if I can get an OK for that, my current internship is 9-2. I'd hate to give this up, I'm really excited to work there, just less excited to lose my sanity for 8 weeks lol

 

[socialcog]

Congratulations on the NIH job! Needless to say, this is an enormous opportunity. I am dripping with envy reading this thread. I think, if you chose to jump at this opportunity, you will need to secure some kind of daycare. While I don't think you will be able to 'balance being a mom', I also think that that short term sacrifice would have minimal ripple effects in the long term given you provide to your daughter the proper daycare situation. Will she miss you? Of course. Will she be OK? Of course.

With your daughter's care taken care of, and assuming you have the full support of your husband, I really think this is something that can lead to great things. I can't say if it will be detrimental to your application, but it's likely something that will bolster your pursuits in ways other opportunities could not.

Good luck and congrats!

 

[glasscandie]

Thanks for the support!! Sometimes I think I just need to hear someone say to me it won't kill DD to be away from me for a bit. I know grad. school will take away a lot of my time, but she'll be kindergarten age then and would be in school f/t anyway - now she's in a half day pre-k, half day daycare (pre-k in morning, which turns to daycare in afternoons). I'm really not wanting to turn this down, I was actually surprised to get it. I applied to a million and one summer internships, got rejected from a million, and got that random 1 acceptance which blew my mind lol I think I got it b/c I have behavioral observation experience at my current internship, and this lab at NIH uses the same methods (Observer 5.0, behavioral check-lists, etc.).

Cross your fingers, I'm going to call him tomorrow. I know logistically I won't be able to do it if it ends up being in the late afternoons - my husband works until 7pm, and her daycare closes at 6pm; but if I can swing it so I get home by 3pm that would work.

 

[Marissa4usa]

To be honest: I would try to get the logistics all straightened out (i.e. your husband's work, your daughter's pre-k program, etc) BUT I would try to suck it up...it's only eight weeks and it's an awesome opportunity that i wouldn't just let go! I mean your husband definetely needs to be on board with you but I think if you can convince how important it is for your future career in terms of potentially having to wait another year until you get into gra school, etc...maybe he'll understand.

 

[glasscandie]

Well, in case anyone cares - they agreed to 8-2pm, so NIMH here I come! 🙂 It's for 8 weeks, plus a 10-15 hr/week spot in the fall. I'm pretty excited!

 

[combinedphd]

Forgive me if I missed this in your originial post, but are you not able to extend your undergraduate education for another semester? If that's possible, consider just taking the summer off from classes to indulge in this fabulous internship opportunity. If not, scratch and claw as much as you can to do the internship anyways!

 

[glasscandie]

I considered extending undergrad so I would graduate in the summer of 2010 - but when I think about not graduating until August 2010 I want to barf. May 2010 seems far enough away, ha. Plus, I already have scholarships to cover the summer, I'm not sure if they can be extended for a year - and I really, really just want to graduate and have a summer off before grad. school!

 

[deleted176373]

Anyone know about the Bethesda area? Now I'm thinking that maybe I could do something like 8am-2pm, which is almost full-time, and would still leave me time in the afternoons for my daughter and schoolwork if I got home by 3pm. I'd be coming from the Odenton area (Fort Meade, Columbia, etc.) to Bethesda, so north to south on 495.

Come in the back way. You don't want to go anywhere near the 495... Shooting down the 29 is not a bad start then swing over at randolph towards 355/Rockville Pike.

I would shoot to get in early (or earlier) and leave anytime before 3 skipping lunch. It's not a bad drive and takes about 45 mins or so.

Mark

 

[UCLAzy]

i worked at nimh on the nih campus after school in highschool. 495 is fine at 2. It starts to get slow at 330ish, maybe even 3 on fridays but u should be fine leaving at 2. on the other hand, rockville pike is always always always busy so try to avoid it for long stretches at any time. idk if you have a metro station near you but i would suggest that over driving. Nih gives you metro money and u dont have to worry about traffic (and can read the paper or catch some nice sleep). Also its really hard to get parking for summer since all the summer interns want it. Parking was terrible during the school year so i can only imagine how it will be when so many summer interns are fighting for it. Good luck

 

[glasscandie]

Thanks for the tip! I think 495 is the easiest way to get there for me; I suppose I could take the metro but that would add a bunch of time to my commute which I would rather avoid (I'd have to drive out of my way to get to the metro to get into Bethesda). The way I understood it was you could park anywhere on the campus, I don't think there's a designated spot for the lab., and then just take a shuttle. I'll have to ask - I start June 19th for orientation, so I'm sure they'll give some info!

 

[ladysky61]

Granted, I don't know the particulars of your situation, but I would strongly suggest taking the metro. Even if it does take a little longer, you would have time to work on reading for your online class (and perhaps other work) and time to yourself which I would assume you would surely need with a young child and all that crazy schedule.
I currently have a 1+ hour commute to school (granted this is in Denmark, which has an AMAZING public transportation system) and usually like because I do my reading everyday. I am also commuting to my internship this summer (in the US).

Plus saving the environment is cool! 🙂

 

[terpskins10]

Thanks for the tip! I think 495 is the easiest way to get there for me

If it's anytime near rush hour, you really might want to reconsider.