Should I quit my gap year job after a month?

Started by Rayatbh
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Rayatbh

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Hi everyone,

I was super grateful to be able to find a job for my gap year especially given the current situation.

I'm extremely frustrated with myself because I have been in a lab for a little over a month and have really not been enjoying the experience at all. One of the biggest reasons is that fact that I'm working with a really aggressive group of animals and I can't seem to get myself used to dealing with them. I'm also being pressured to do so by the PI and lab manager really quickly because they want me to quickly move on to do things that require me to be advanced in restraining. I have a lot of experience working with mice but this is honestly nothing like it and I never realized it would be this hard. I honestly did not want to go back to working with animals for my gap year. I was shooting for a clinical research position. But this is really the only opportunity that came my way.

Furthermore, I just really don't like the environment here. The lab manger is extremely rude so I constantly find myself upset any time I have to deal or speak with her. I've found myself crying about this job more times than I think are healthy lol, so I really don't know what to do.

If I didn't feel so bad about quitting so early and upsetting my PI and wasting the people in this lab's time and money, I would do it. I also feel bad about letting go of an opportunity to potentially get involved in some cool research and get a few publications before applying next cycle - and who knows if ill be able to find another good job.

Should I suck it up and work even harder at trying to restrain them? Should I just be honest with myself about the fact that I hate working with animals and that it takes longer than average for me to adjust to it?

Thanks for any input.
 
Don’t feel bad about finding an experience that you’re better suited for and you’re going to enjoy more. It’s your life after all. Im in a pretty similar position. One thing I’d say is definitely try to find other positions before you make the jump to minimize downtime during your gap year!
 
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I recommend looking elsewhere. I’m not sure what area you’re in, but with all the COVID-19 vaccine trials starting up, I know many clinical research facilities are looking for help.
 
Nothing wrong with looking for better opportunities. It shows that you value your time and respect yourself. If anyone asks, frame it as moving towards something better, not away from something bad.