Current physics education research has demonstrated that, when not taught directly, students have a wide range of conceptual resources regarding the use of variables upon entering introductory physics. There is a growing body of work that characterizes students’ use of variables and how students connect variables to their physical meaning (Brahmia 2019). We build on this work by seeking to better understand how students are making sense of variables in introductory physics labs. Data was collected from students’ responses to lab curriculum on the online lab platform, Pivot Interactives, from the 2020-2021 academic year. By examining students’ variable choice when graphing experimental data over the course of a quarter, we are able to identify emerging commonalities in variable use and how the variables students choose correlates with the students’ broader understanding of quantitative reasoning. Preliminary data from student graphs of position versus time show a prevalence of students using math-like variables, such as y and x, instead of variables traditionally used to represent these quantities in physics, such as x to represent position and t to represent time. Use of math-like variables in a physical context suggests that these students’ may have not yet formed a strong association between the variable itself and the meaning of the physical quantity it represents. Insights into student variable use and its relationship to the students’ overall quantitative reasoning can help instructors consider effective methods that adapt curriculum to directly address the use and meaning of variables within physics. By doing so, instructors may have an opportunity to directly impact their students’ quantitative reasoning – a skill valued across all STEM disciplines.