I'm currently an undergrad RA for a psych lab and my PI doesn't really interact with the undergrads unless you go out of your way to talk to him. He's nice enough but generally doesn't care to engage with the RA's and just sticks to talking to the three grad students who run the lab. The grad student that I work under is usually pretty serious and doesn't seem to be a fan of most people—including me, but I didn't really take it personally since she is pretty stressed out because the Ph.D. track isn't an easy one and ultimately she said that she finds undergrad students annoying—which is fair enough.

She is unforgiving when it comes to mistakes and I will be very thorough with the work I do in the lab to avoid pissing her off. I make sure to always show up early and she doesn't have to babysit me as she has to with some RA's.

I've come to find out that she is constantly talking badly about me as well as other RA's. She is petty and doesn't base her ratings of the RA's on performance but rather on how she personally feels about them. I have a meeting scheduled with my labs PI tomorrow about returning to the lab next semester. I reached out to him directly without telling my GTA and before I left the day today she asked me if I had a meeting with the PI tomorrow. I told her I did and she said okay and thanked me for my work today before I left.

He has already rejected another girl from my group without even meeting her because my GTA wasn't a fan of her. I'm pretty sure this going to be my fate as well. It sucks that I'm more than likely going to have to find another lab just because the GTA doesn't like me. I do my job well and I've adjusted to my role really quickly. Despite the toxic workplace, I find the lab pretty simple and it works well with my schedule. I'm a little upset and just venting.