As the school year is quickly getting hectic you might feel inclined to read up on as many tips and tricks to make it go smoothly as possible. When I was entering my first year as a natural science student I might have overlooked one aspect of school life that would be vital to my success in science courses: getting along with your lab partners.

Although I was lucky enough to have great lab partners throughout my first term, some of my classmates were not. There are a few generalizations about lab partners that I can define. There are the partners that take over the whole experiment, and on the other side of the spectrum there are those who don’t do a thing. There are also those who like to micromanage every little aspect of the experiment. Some tips that I have learned in my one year of experience might be helpful for those that are starting their first year in the lab.

When you choose your lab partner in your first semester, you likely don’t know anyone very well. I find it easiest to choose someone that you have talked to, even if it was just a brief “hello.” If you don’t know anyone, then unfortunately you will be matched up with a stranger. However, who you choose as your lab partner is not as important as your ability to communicate and compromise as a pair throughout the semester.

I found it very useful to establish duties for each lab that my partner and I did, and stick to those duties if you are doing several repetitions of the same steps. Sometimes I would ask which task my partner wanted to take on and they would give an indifferent response. This is not the time to be easy going. If there is something that you are really good at doing, or a task that can be a little nerve-racking (like measuring HCl) that you don’t want to do, speak up. Communication is imperative in the lab.

Make sure to read your manual beforehand! This helps to eliminate any confusion and mistakes in your experiment. If at least one of you reads it thoroughly, you will avoid frustration – like having to reboil water after turning the heating pad off too early.

Don’t take everything too seriously. Sure, labs may be very important for your grade and they can be a little intimidating when you are working with something new, but this is a great time to learn, ask questions, and make mistakes. These are the formative moments in your scientific career and you should enjoy them!