# useless in labs



## tribute311 (Apr 8, 2008)

i'm so quiet in labs. i don't do anything in labs. my lab group probably thinks im weird. last night, i worked with them writing up the lab report for 4 hours. all i did was just sit there! the stuff was hard to understand and i couldn't contribute much (i'm quiet and dumb haha) the other two guys ended up doing all the work. i felt bad. i felt so useless. these kind of things make me depressed. anyone else can relate?


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## Efsee (Jul 20, 2009)

I'm working in a lab group too. You could come prepared with a section like the introduction or conclusion complete, or at least outlined so that you'd be contributing more. If you're having trouble understanding it you could look the topic up online and study so you have a better grasp of it.


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## Spettro (Sep 25, 2009)

Yeah, I think I come across as lazy to other people when in group work, when it's a real struggle to get my ideas in  

I prefer to work with just me


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## rctriplefresh5 (Aug 24, 2009)

tribute311 said:


> i'm so quiet in labs. i don't do anything in labs. my lab group probably thinks im weird. last night, i worked with them writing up the lab report for 4 hours. all i did was just sit there! the stuff was hard to understand and i couldn't contribute much (i'm quiet and dumb haha) the other two guys ended up doing all the work. i felt bad. i felt so useless. these kind of things make me depressed. anyone else can relate?


OMG I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE. i am the exact same way, i feel so useless and everything, because in a 3 hour lab i just stand there with a dazed look on my face pretending im trying to answer questions, even though im to stupid to ha.

one day i did the post labs questions a day before we had the actual lab and gave my group the answers so i wouldnt feel so useless. unfortunately they didnt trust me and checked my answers out.....butt hey were right .


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## bezoomny (Feb 10, 2007)

I always try to work alone, if possible. If I'm put in a group, I'll get the work done as quickly as possible by myself, say to the group, "here are the answers" and leave. Consequently everyone wants me in their group. :/


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## Catlover4100 (Feb 10, 2009)

I'm sort of the opposite. I had the highest grade in chemistry class, so everyone wanted to be my lab partner. But when I get doing a lab, I become another person entirely. I want everything to be perfect, so I kind of take charge and end up yelling at my partner if they are being careless or doing something incorrectly. I'm really a nice person, and wouldn't normally be rude to anyone, but I get so caught up in precision. After people worked with me they had to weigh their options to see if another good grade was worth it lol!


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## meowgirl (Aug 24, 2009)

oh i definitely know what you mean:um i'm always so jittery in labs and my experiments always go wrong:rain not to mention the TA hates me and he, for some reason, watches me. It's really weird and he does it only to me and it makes me freeze up : < I definitely know what you mean^^


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## heyJude (Aug 1, 2009)

I can relate. I always dread lab days. Even though I've read over the lab the previous day, I still feel like I don't really understand how to do anything. Chemistry my freshman year was horrible. I always felt like I didn't know what in the world I was doing, but always acted like I was doing something so people wouldn't think I was this dumb loser. When I had to work in lab groups, I stayed really quiet. Half of the time, I didn't know what was going on, so I thought it was best to just keep my trap shut instead of saying something stupid and humiliating myself even more...


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## SilentLoner (Jan 30, 2006)

Ugh I'm in the same situation, biology lab. I struggle with most of the things we do and following directions but at least I'm not the worst one in my group (there's four of us). I volunteer to do stuff like get the materials for the lab.


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## rctriplefresh5 (Aug 24, 2009)

rctriplefresh5 said:


> OMG I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE. i am the exact same way, i feel so useless and everything, because in a 3 hour lab i just stand there with a dazed look on my face pretending im trying to answer questions, even though im to stupid to ha.
> 
> one day i did the post labs questions a day before we had the actual lab and gave my group the answers so i wouldnt feel so useless. unfortunately they didnt trust me and checked my answers out.....butt hey were right .


whats funny isd my lab ''partner'' said she felt sick last class i nthe middle of the lab and she asked if i wouldnt mind doing the lab by myself..i started thinking to myself i dont know how to do this, and said. i mtired to!! no way i can finish this on my own, come on well get through this we're almost done!

she stayed./ i put partner in quotes because im useless.


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## gopherinferno (Apr 7, 2009)

I only have to take two classes with required labs. I'm working on one, gen. ed. biology, right now. It's been okay so far. Everyone just works with whoever they're sitting by, if they have to. And I've ended up with lab partners/groups by accident or by default, just because of where I was sitting. 

That's one of my worst fears about lab days--ending up in that terrible situation where you don't have a partner or group when you're supposed to and you're panicking and wondering if you should ask someone to join, ask the teacher, or just go about your business and hope no one notices.


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## shy67 (May 2, 2008)

I am the sam way in labs. I always feel really nervous before lab and want to contribute but have trouble speaking up. I also feel like I'm kind of slow at doing things because I'm always afraid of making a mistake. This is sort of bad since I'm a medical technology major (lab tech.) but I hope if I do it enough I will get used to it and it will be ok. The funny thing is that my TA in chem. asked me if I wanted to work in his lab. I was so surprised because I always finished last and was always messing up or not finishing experiments. However, I did have the highest grade in the class. I didn't work in his lab due to SA. I regret that but was too scared to do it.


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## tribute311 (Apr 8, 2008)

Thanks for sharing all your stories. makes me feel a little better that I'm not the only one who has problems with this! 

Man, our lab groups are permanent for the whole semester. There's three of us. I don't really like one of the guys in my group. He's not mean or anything; I just don't click with him. He's not that inclusive either' he does most of the work himself. The other guy is okay. I'm kinda bummed because I have friend in the same lab period, but he's in another group! Ic ould have been with my friend instead of dealing with new people.

Anyways, I still don't do much. I just try to chip in whenever I can. I ask my group if they want me to do anything, so i at least show that I'm willing to help. I don't know...it's just another challenge in life we have to try to overcome.


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## shyvr6 (Feb 18, 2008)

My proffessor puts all of our names in random.org so we'll get new people each time.


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## TheForgotten (Oct 9, 2009)

I feel somewhat the same thing, I do understand the things often but I got trouble spewing out my idea's. I usually end up waiting for so long to finally say: "Maybe you should try it this way to get it to work.".
I just sit there, trying to give tips and ask questions from the sideline, just to be a little involved.


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

Ugh, I always hated lab! Especially organic chemistry!!!! I feel for you.


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## telefy (Oct 10, 2009)

I was the same way. I hated doing the labs, and it was really hard for me to read the material ahead of time. Not only that, but when I did know something the others didn't, I wasn't confident enough to correct them. 

I think the trick is to memorize the materials and immediately say something like "I'll go get the beacers and stuff." Or what ever it is someone will need to retrieve, so you atleast did something that day. 

All throughout the labs I thought that someone else was "in charge" and that I shouldn't do anything unless someone else asked me to, but that just isn't how it works. Everyone had the same ambition "to complete all the lab work" and everyone independatly did what they saw was the next step. 

Not knowing what the steps are before hand was the biggest problem. If I could do it again I would re-write the procedure in a step by step list of "things someone could accomplish on there own." I'd go do it right now with my old stuff, but I should be doing current work, lol.


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## Rixy (Oct 4, 2009)

Thought I was the only one with these problems. Thank God I'm not alone. My usual lab partners in GCSE were kind of control freaks and did everything so I didn't worry too much about that. If we're in groups I would usually get the equipment out and set everything up. Then when it was done I'd put everything away. Just the basic stuff. Now I'm doing A Level Chemistry, learning titration. I best make sure that I do everything right this year and not mess up.


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## TheForgotten (Oct 9, 2009)

telefy said:


> I think the trick is to memorize the materials and immediately say something like "I'll go get the beacers and stuff." Or what ever it is someone will need to retrieve, so you atleast did something that day.


Man, I guess it's common with SA to do this 
I never want to do stuff where I can **** up, so as said, I do the basic stuff. Always saying "I'll get it" and pretend you're on the wagon. I think it's because if you'd do it and it wouldn't work or something goes horribly wrong, that you are not the centre of attention.


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## Sydney s (Oct 1, 2009)

I love most labs, but I love science so even at times when I feel like I'm not contributing anything, I'm still having some fun. 

Maybe this will make you feel better: Over the summer, I took bio and the lab final required a fetal pig dissection. As I was cutting down the abdomen, the scalpel head broke and flew across the table. I blushed and started laughing. I was the only one laughing, which made me feel immature, but no one made an issue out of it. 

Anyways, I had the same problem as you did. I forced myself to be more assertive and started doing small tasks and eventually had some control over the experiments. Start small to build confidence and go from there. Also, read the chapters before labs and if you're still not sure of the material, relate what you do know. There's nothing wrong with asking partners. It shows them you're taking an interest so they won't count you out completely or hold it against you for not participating as much.


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