I loved getting to work with prospective LMU students and using my skills to develop their creativity! It was very fulfilling to see a class I took as an undergrad be taken by other students while I was in a teaching position. I also got to go on a field trip to paramount studios which was amazing and educational.
What I wish was different
I wish it had been longer! We did a two-week program, working six hours a day. I understand this is how the process was shaped and it fits the model, but I wish I got to spend more time with the students' stories.
Advice
Never let your nerves or imposter sydrome prevent you from sharing your creativity! And don't be afraid to bond with the students. Many of them graduated after the program and are now LMU students, and we work together on sets which is very rewarding.
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Google CSSI Extension Teaching Assistant
July - August 2018 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
Being a part of the orientation process for cs majors and being able to introduce them to LMU, as well as web development.
What I wish was different
I wish we could've had more TAs. i think it would've been easier to balance all the work that goes into the planning and logistics and i could have made more of an effort to help with the debugging rather than just making sure plans and events were being executed properly
Advice
Be willing to get things done, otherwise no one else will do it. Specifically with cleaning and little organization tasks that might add up if not completed early.
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Undergraduate Research Assistant
May - July 2022 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
Opportunity to share culminated work following completion of research period
What I wish was different
More time on-campus rather than online
Advice
Take accountability and guide your own research!
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Undergraduate Research Assistant
June - July 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
Good to continue a project I'd already been working on
What I wish was different
that it wasn't remote
Advice
Be open to it, because it's very rewarding!
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Research Lead
May - August 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
Working closely with a faculty mentor to achieve a goal I set out to study
What I wish was different
More clarity through participants waiver
Advice
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Orientation Leader
July 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I enjoyed interacting with a variety of different people.
What I wish was different
It would have been nice to be in person, but perhaps in the future it will be.
Advice
Have an open mind.
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Orientation Leader
June - August 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I enjoyed having the chance to help students and prepare them for their futures at LMU.
What I wish was different
I wish I had a chance to get to know the students on a more personal one-on-one level.
Advice
Learn to balance staying on task with fun for the students.
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Chemistry Research Intern
June 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I have an amazing mentor. I do computational chemistry research using computers, so it was quite easy to transition to doing it remotely. I enjoyed the flexibility and opportunities to learn and gain hands on experience.
What I wish was different
I wish I could have done this summer research job in person, but given the circumstances I am very happy I was still able to continue and make a lot of progress on my research project.
Advice
Research is such an amazing area and is very helpful in determining your passions, as well as strengths and weaknesses. I recommend that everyone pursue some kind of research in their lifetime.
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University Teaching Assistant
June - July 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I was a teaching assistant for LMU's Pre-College Summer Program: Social Impact Filmmaking co-taught by two amazing film professors. I absolutely loved meeting and mentoring high school students from across the world who wanted to pursue film as a career. I was able to be a crucial part of their entire process - from developing their scripts to production and post-production of their short films. I liked being able to share my own experiences from my application to film schools, college classes, and student film sets to give insight to their journeys. Additionally, I was grateful to learn so much from the professors as well as the students and I took away key lessons from them for my own filmmaking journey.
What I wish was different
I wish it had been a longer course, because all of us would have loved to continue learning with one another and to spend more time going in-depth into the art of storytelling. The biggest thing that we all wish could be different was to have had the program in-person (as it was before the pandemic). However, I feel like we were able to make up for both of these during the program and were able to make the most of the limitations to expand our learning.
Advice
Take notes and always be open to learning as much as you can outside of your duties in the job. I was able to get so much from this experience because I was learning with the students, and asking questions to deepen my understanding. Along similar lines, do more than you think you have to if you feel passionate about it. We all have the power to take any job or task in whichever direction we desire. I could have gone the route of only completing administrative duties through this position as per the job description, but I would not have grown so much if I had not gone the extra mile and contributed creatively to the course.
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Research
June - July 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I liked the remote research experience, it was a challenge but the McNair program provided us with a lot of support throughout the way.
What I wish was different
I wish there were more structure to the program since it was online. Possibly a guide to let students know the appropriate times to report on the progress for our projects.
Advice
Your research advisor is there to support you! Utilize them as much as you can.
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Student Researcher
May 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
The flexibility of finishing the work due to the coronavirus.
What I wish was different
Being in person would have made the research experience much more enjoyable.
Advice
Staying in close communication with your research advisor will help keep the project run more smoothly, since we are all separated physically.
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College Teaching Assistant
September 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
The opportunity to assist first-year students as they navigate university through a virtual space.
What I wish was different
The virtual approach to assisting with the teaching experience has been different.
Advice
Utilizing your own experience to assist students helps them avoid issues that you had to face.
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Marketing Intern
July - October 2020 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I loved that I got to work with my university. Also, being online I can do it from anywhere. I also got to learn about digital marketing which I loved!
What I wish was different
It would have been nice to be in person. I didn't want to do it for as long as I did.
Advice
It's incredibly fast-paced. You have to be competitive, an individual worker, and able to meet fast deadlines. Don't have excuses, just get your work done and do it with passion and speed! They also allow you to do specific assignments based on what your interested in, which allows you to play towards your strengths.
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Student Researcher
May - June 2019 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I took part in both SURP and SOAR, and I enjoyed working closely with both my mentors and my partner. It was an eye-opening and exciting experience to be able to make a project into something of my own invention about a topic I was interested in. We learned a lot about not just our topic of research, but also about the processes of research and collaboration in general. My mentors were always readily available to help when I needed it, and it was overall a fun and educational experience.
What I wish was different
I wish I had had more time to work on both my projects rather than just 6 short weeks. I feel that I could have taken my projects to another level if I had more time.
Advice
One thing that is difficult to overcome with research is the overwhelming sense of inadequacy, confusion, and imposter syndrome. It's easy to fall into thinking that you have no idea what you're doing, that you can't do this research project, or that it won't matter. However, this is not true -- you are more prepared than you think, and every researcher faces these same mental struggles. Put in the effort, ask questions, and you will do some amazing research. Also, take advantage of your mentors; we are lucky to have fantastic professors who are just as invested in our learning as we are, and collaboration with both mentors and peers will help your project thrive.
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Athletics Associate
June - August 2019 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
Each day there was something new to do. I'd help reorganize rooms, paint the locker rooms, set up the basketball gym, etc.
What I wish was different
There were some days where it was boring and it could have been more productive.
Advice
I would recommend this and always make sure to have enough energy for work because it can be a lot of physical work.
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Structural Research Assistanct
June - July 2019 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
Great on-campus opportunity especially if one does not get a summer internship lined up. This research experience was invaluable to me as it opened up my career interest to more than just aerospace. I learned to enjoy structural engineering and I applied for construction company internships usually meant for civil engineers. I ended up landing my first summer internship for the summer after my junior year at LMU at McCarthy construction mostly due to my strong resume which got me an interview.
What I wish was different
No complaints really. The research team was guided by Professor Sunai Kim who immediately taught us industry skills such as reading a construction drawing as well as the steel manual. As a mechanical engineering student, this was sweet as I never went over these in my classes.
Advice
If you do not have an internship lined up, research experience is the next best thing. It adds to your resume and allows you one more pertinent thing to talk about during interviews.
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SOAR Research Assistant
May - June 2019 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
It was a great experience! Really helpful to hear from faculty about their experience with graduate school and research, and it was nice to see what it's like to be doing research full-time.
What I wish was different
I wish there had been a bit more structure, but that was kind of my fault anyway.
Advice
You definitely get out of it what you put into it.
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LMU Pre-College Summer Programs Resident Advisor
June - July 2019 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I loved getting to work with high school students and share college anecdotes with them as they go into the application process or continue the search process.
What I wish was different
I wish I had more than two days off in the 5 weeks that I worked.
Advice
Go with the flow.
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Research Assistant
May - August 2019 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
Since the topic was Optical Coherence Tomography, I learned a lot about photonics and how it can be used for image processing. It opened up a new branch of technology that I previously did not know existed and made me interested in photonics.
What I wish was different
I wish I could spend more time doing the research as the program was only for the summer.
Advice
Try to be as hands-on as possible when doing research as that is the way that you learn most. Ask a lot of questions and be sure to get as much out of the experience as you can.
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SURP
May - June 2019 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
I liked being able to work with the professor on her research and having to get hands-on experience with working in research.
What I wish was different
I wish there was a more defined schedule of when we met.
Advice
It was a lot of work outside of meeting, so being able to manage time was hard but it was very rewarding.
