Helping Out

Every day I go into the office I’m prepared to do something different. Usually what I end up doing is helping draft letters for the FDA to send off to the drug companies, but sometimes I have other assignments. I’ve also been able to work on a project to help catalog drug company submissions for approved drugs and another project which involves looking at the results from animal trials for approved drugs over the past couple years. Earlier I helped prepare a presentation for an FDA employee to debrief her coworkers. This past week, I was able to help take the load off someone’s plate by helping her review a couple of new submissions. This has been awesome because not only do I get to learn a lot, I am also more able to help others around me. I also feel as though they are genuinely grateful for my help, as multiple times they have gone out of their way to say how much they appreciated my work and how much time it saved them. An employee actually asked for my help in drafting one of the letters she was working on and I was able to teach her how to do it and finish it for her in a short amount of time. In helping her and the other interns, I have gotten much needed practice. It feels great to be able to help people and have them help you in times of confusion. I feel I have also been able to develop my communication skills in this because, in these few occasions, I got to practice clearly communicating how it needed to be done, what it meant, and why it was important. This is an essential skill for a scientist so I think in helping others, I have also been able to develop myself.