Self advocacy is one of the most important skills a person needs in the workplace. Here are a few examples of times when I used self advocacy.
1. Marking and weighing mice
My coworker Tali was helping me to mark and weigh the DISC1 mice that I was using for the second part of my experiment, and I realized that I had made a mistake in the cage assignments. There were duplicate assignments, where one mouse would be assigned to two cages at once. Because Tali was just helping me place the mice, I had to let her know that I had made a mistake and that I needed some time to fix it. I rearranged the assignments as needed and the marking and weighing was a success. Although I felt guilty for taking up more of her time than I had anticipated, I'm glad I was able to save us from confusion in the near future.
2. Orientation in the lab
I'm so fortunate that my coworkers are so friendly and willing to help me adapt to this work environment. I have no problem with asking anyone for help with anything, whether it's finding the wheeling carts, handling mice, or cleaning cages.
Today, I had the task of cleaning the cages for the inbred mice in my experiment now that that portion is over. I had no idea how to do this so I asked Sal for help. He not only explained each step to transferring mice to the vivarium, he did so while working with me to get it done faster. I cleaned 24 cages and stored a total of 48 mice today thanks to his help!
3. Downloading pictures
As I began documenting my experiment, I was taking pictures on my camera each day. When I tried uploading the pictures to my desktop, I realized that my computer is the only one that doesn't have an SD card port. I asked Chelsea for help, and she gave me an adapter to try. When that didn't work, I asked the part-time tech helper for advice. Eventually, Tali and Steph agreed to help me by offering their desktops as a place for me to download my pictures. Tali even made my very own folder on her flash drive that I use when I transfer pictures to my computer.
4. Parking
I was parking in the wrong lot for an entire week and a half before I realized it. I had actually done the right thing with confirming where I could park. I was waiting for my parking permit to come in the office mail, and on my first day I stopped by the security truck and asked the woman sitting in it where I could park. I explained that I was an intern and that I wasn't sure where to go, and she replied by telling me that I could park on the main story.
Well a week later, Bill, the parking security guy, parked his golf cart behind my car and waited for me to get out. He asked me who I was and why I was parking in that spot. I explained my situation and he told me that I need to park elsewhere. He let me slide for that day, but the next day he was waiting for me to pull into the parking lot. He simply shook his head at me when I pulled in. I rolled down my window to ask him where I needed to park and he answered "Lot 2". I had no idea where that was, so I asked him to help me get there. It was two blocks away- at least a 10 minute walk. So I told Bill that I needed to tell my mentor that I would be late. When I came into the office, Dr. Roberts wasn't there, so I left her a post-it note telling her where I was and why I would be late. I eventually made it to Lot 2 and took the long way tot he office (I didn't realize that there was an underground tunnel at this point). I worked on figuring out where to park and how to get to the underground tunnel in the next few days. After two weeks, I was finally able to get a routine down for commuting, parking, and getting into the lab on time.
1. Marking and weighing mice
My coworker Tali was helping me to mark and weigh the DISC1 mice that I was using for the second part of my experiment, and I realized that I had made a mistake in the cage assignments. There were duplicate assignments, where one mouse would be assigned to two cages at once. Because Tali was just helping me place the mice, I had to let her know that I had made a mistake and that I needed some time to fix it. I rearranged the assignments as needed and the marking and weighing was a success. Although I felt guilty for taking up more of her time than I had anticipated, I'm glad I was able to save us from confusion in the near future.
2. Orientation in the lab
I'm so fortunate that my coworkers are so friendly and willing to help me adapt to this work environment. I have no problem with asking anyone for help with anything, whether it's finding the wheeling carts, handling mice, or cleaning cages.
Today, I had the task of cleaning the cages for the inbred mice in my experiment now that that portion is over. I had no idea how to do this so I asked Sal for help. He not only explained each step to transferring mice to the vivarium, he did so while working with me to get it done faster. I cleaned 24 cages and stored a total of 48 mice today thanks to his help!
3. Downloading pictures
As I began documenting my experiment, I was taking pictures on my camera each day. When I tried uploading the pictures to my desktop, I realized that my computer is the only one that doesn't have an SD card port. I asked Chelsea for help, and she gave me an adapter to try. When that didn't work, I asked the part-time tech helper for advice. Eventually, Tali and Steph agreed to help me by offering their desktops as a place for me to download my pictures. Tali even made my very own folder on her flash drive that I use when I transfer pictures to my computer.
4. Parking
I was parking in the wrong lot for an entire week and a half before I realized it. I had actually done the right thing with confirming where I could park. I was waiting for my parking permit to come in the office mail, and on my first day I stopped by the security truck and asked the woman sitting in it where I could park. I explained that I was an intern and that I wasn't sure where to go, and she replied by telling me that I could park on the main story.
Well a week later, Bill, the parking security guy, parked his golf cart behind my car and waited for me to get out. He asked me who I was and why I was parking in that spot. I explained my situation and he told me that I need to park elsewhere. He let me slide for that day, but the next day he was waiting for me to pull into the parking lot. He simply shook his head at me when I pulled in. I rolled down my window to ask him where I needed to park and he answered "Lot 2". I had no idea where that was, so I asked him to help me get there. It was two blocks away- at least a 10 minute walk. So I told Bill that I needed to tell my mentor that I would be late. When I came into the office, Dr. Roberts wasn't there, so I left her a post-it note telling her where I was and why I would be late. I eventually made it to Lot 2 and took the long way tot he office (I didn't realize that there was an underground tunnel at this point). I worked on figuring out where to park and how to get to the underground tunnel in the next few days. After two weeks, I was finally able to get a routine down for commuting, parking, and getting into the lab on time.