I must rant:

I have had the most frustrating experiences trying to get research this year so far. I was "hired" as a research assistant by some oral surgery resident before Thanksgiving and only heard from him a month at a time after that. We haven't started any of our research yet, he's horrible at getting back to both me and the other undergrad "working" with him, and the application for the study is still being processed. I understand that he can't really expedite that process, but why would you hire research assitants 4 and a half months before you even scratched the surface of your research without openly giving them that timeline? Because I think both of us (me and the other kid, Seth) were under the impression that the study would be conducted this current semester, what happens when we both graduate next Saturday? What if we had to leave Ann Arbor? Aarrggh!

Furthermore, attaining my elusive research position at the Cancer Center (read: the JOB with benefits that I've been counting on after graduation) hasn't exactly been a picnic either. The professor I'm working with, although brilliant, is completely scatter-brained and her tone is just downright mean sometimes :( Perhaps I misunderstood her email that said: "I've spoken with [administrative coordinator] about hiring you for the position. Are you still interested?", but 4 weeks after confirming this and also turning in my U of M paperwork, I've heard nothing. So yet again, the ball is in my court to check up on the status of my application - I don't think it's a coincidence that 4 weeks go by without a peep from either of them, yet the day after I send an email regarding my application, the ball starts rolling. Upon whose desk has my application been gathering dust this past month? Raaaar!

I'm tearing my hair out here because although mostly inadvertantly, my experience has shown that professors and other researchers don't realize how inconsiderate they are by not getting back to you and how important this work is to you as a person seeking reasearch, whether or not they see you as a disposable research assistant. I know I need these positions a lot more than they need me specifically, but I really do feel as though I've done everything right here. I'm still unclear about my salary, when I start, my hours, etc. for the cancer research and that ambiguity naturally makes me start to doubt whether or not I have the job. I have to reread that email over and over to make sure that there isn't a lot of room for misinterpretation. However, what professors don't understand (or perhaps they do) is that by non-chalantly committing to involve me in their project, I assume it's going to be a go - I haven't been looking for jobs because I (rightly, in my opinion) assumed this one was in the bag. Although I don't have much reason to doubt that beyond my own anxieties, perhaps I should start updating my CV. Rar.