What It’s Like to Work on Campus
Most people who know me well know will tell you that I work in a “nut lab” here at Vanderbilt. This is the colloquial name we have given to the research core in the medical center where I have spent several hours a week since arriving to campus. The reason we call it the nut lab is because, when I was first beginning my time in the lab, I was responsible for putting nuts into bags to give to participants of a study about diet while everyone else was doing much more high-level work. However, since beginning my job on campus, I have been afforded many opportunities and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Coming to Vanderbilt, I intended to work somewhere on campus as soon as humanly possible. My mom and I are both currently attending college, so our household has to shell out a lot of our income on tuition. I wanted to be able to make some money at school to spend on activities outside of the classroom so that I wouldn’t have to ask my parents, who were gracious enough to help me pay for college, to do so. A couple weeks into my first year here, I was accepted into and began my job at Vanderbilt’s medical center.
My job here mostly involves me attending to whatever needs our office may have. This includes putting together packets of information for study participants, redesigning the office website, recruiting study participants, and, yes, putting nuts in bags from time to time. My job has been a lot of fun, as well as a great exercise in time management. To be able to work, I have to be organized when it comes to my schoolwork as well, and this has been a great challenge to have to face. I also feel more prepared to work outside of college, having been in a professional setting beforehand. Lastly, my job allows me to meet people I wouldn’t otherwise, which is the greatest gift of all.
While there are many paths I could have gone down at Vanderbilt, I’m very glad that mine included working in this office. If you have any questions about life at Vanderbilt, please contact me at alex.rains@vanderbilt.edu