Kick Down The Door – How I Landed A Last-Minute Graduate Assistantship When All Hope Was Lost

I was in my first year of graduate school, transitioning from my undergraduate studies in environmental science to chemical engineering. While there were knowledge gaps to fill, I overcame every academic challenge and brought a new perspective from environmental science to solve problems in chemical engineering. 

I worked a rewarding assistantship my first year as the lead teaching assistant for a basic class in Numerical Methods for Scientists & Engineers. My responsibility was to oversee the labs and teach undergraduate students how to use MATLAB and VBA Macros in Excel to solve problems rapidly. 

It was a joy to work with these students and hold extra sessions on the weekends. The extra sessions went above and beyond for many students, turning the tide for their academic performance and creating a new space to explore ideas beyond what the class required. 

My academic performance was rock solid, and my reviews as a TA were superior.  Certainly, I would be up for an easy renewal, right?

Rockstar Performance Meant Nothing For Renewal 

Around the spring semester finals, my graduate advisor pulled me into her office. She said, despite my achievements as a TA and academic performance in transitioning from environmental science to chemical engineering, the department could not fund me for the following academic year. 

I. Was. Absolutely. Shocked.   

My plans to successfully transition into an engineering career dissolved right before my eyes.  As I left her office, my anger overtook me, knowing that my achievements meant nothing to the department. 

Thoughts raced through my mind: Was my nonlinear career trajectory working against me? Will I fight an uphill battle forever?  I knew one thing was certain — I wouldn’t give up without a fight. 

I Remember Responding To One Particular Email... 

As I quietly stormed out of the engineering building and mentally planned an uprising with the department chair, I subtly remembered applying for an assistantship to become a STEM teacher in the inner-city schools of Syracuse.  Desperate and knowing that I had not received a rejection letter yet, I decided to redirect my energy towards that building. 

I vaguely remember during my five-minute march of madness having to brush off a couple of people who asked me if I was OK. I let them know that I had business to take care of and that I must do whatever it took to get it done today. Determination overcame me as my eyes carved a path towards my target.   

I locked my sights on the office where I applied for that assistantship several weeks ago. Although I was fuming inside, I calmed myself down before entering the building, knowing that making a scene would torpedo my final opportunity for good. 

Even though I was calmer than when I exited the engineering building, I inadvertently opened the door dramatically by kicking the latch bar. 

Luckily, nobody saw it.  I scoped the office and approached the front desk. No one was there, so I sat down to wait.

A few minutes later, the receptionist came in and asked how she could help me. I asked to speak with the person in charge of hiring for that assistantship. 

The front desk informed me that they had somebody lined up to interview at that time, and I would need to schedule a time to return.  I felt that it was my final chance, and I asked frantically if the person interviewing was here at this minute.

Almost on cue, the director came out with a big smile and said that the person they had intended to interview decided not to show up, so he wanted to interview me instead.  It took a second, but we recognized each other from my undergraduate days when he invited me into his office. 

After roughly an hour and 15 minutes of catching up and discussing the opportunity, he asked me, “We have 25 positions available, so how would you like to be number 25“? 

“I would be honored,” I replied to his request.  Suddenly, the crushing blow I had been dealt in the engineering department had been countered in full. 

I asked him if I had not come into the office, when I would have been interviewed.  He said that I applied much later than everyone else, so he was planning to interview me in two weeks if they had any positions available. 

Thank goodness I kicked the door down. I could not have secured that assistantship if I had simply waited my turn. 

Relieved and invigorated with a second wind, I returned to the engineering department in a more zen-like state.  I reported to my graduate advisor that the inner-city educational program offered me a position, and she was extremely relieved. 

I also met up with the friends I brushed off inadvertently and let them know the good news. We all celebrated! 

What I Would Have Done Differently 

This was probably one of the toughest lessons I’ve ever learned. It taught me that even though I was in a prestigious field, I could not take anything for granted.  

Skills and abilities don’t mean a thing if an opportunity isn’t available. Instead of assuming that things would play out in the end, I should’ve done my due diligence to ensure that my original assistantship would be renewed or seek out other options in advance. 

If I were in that same position from my graduate school days again, here are some of the overarching pieces of advice I would give to myself: 

Never, NEVER Assume 

Just because I was awarded an assistantship in my first year doesn’t guarantee its continuity.  I fell for the mindset of believing that if I did ABC, then I would be guaranteed XYZ. 

Life doesn’t work like that, even in school.

In hindsight, I should have communicated with my advisor to gauge the department's financial state realistically and plan accordingly. There were other opportunities out there, but the longer I waited, the less chance I had of securing them. 

Broaden My Options 

While I was lucky that I applied for that assistantship to teach in the inner city, I should have broadened my applications for graduate assistantships to reach internal and external sources. 

In truth, there were at least two dozen different assistantships I could have applied for. I may not have been awarded all of them since there were some stringent requirements for their award. 

However, just like anything else, it is a numbers game. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, and I missed all those I didn’t even try for. 

Develop A System

Although I was an engineering student, I strung my career at the edge of my seat as I adapted to my new career aspirations.  Shameful, I know. 

However, I knew I was following an unconventional career path from environmental science to chemical engineering. Therefore, I should have built an unconventional system to assist in my transition. 

It doesn’t have to be a robust system. Thanks to my assistantship, I was versatile in Microsoft Excel, so I could have put the major items on a spreadsheet and saved backups. This way, I would know exactly where I stood in my academic journey. 

Nowadays, I have a robust system called The ForrestXYZ that oversees the major aspects of my life. Since there were no solutions to manage my lifestyle, I decided to be proactive and create one. 

I Applied The Lesson The Following Year — Thank Goodness! 

I wish I could say I experienced a happily ever after for the rest of my career, but reality has its way of playing out. 

During my time teaching in inner-city schools, I had a feeling that this opportunity wouldn’t last forever.  There was an extreme mismatch between the role advertised vs. what we were doing, causing major tensions between the school district and the college. 

From my previous experiences, I knew I needed to broaden my options. Thank goodness I did. During my second year, I built a great relationship with the head of the chemical engineering department. 

I’m so glad I didn’t storm into his office when I got rejected for my assistantship the year before. 

My application for an assistantship with his engineering management team included a proposal for a personal development center for scientists and engineers. This project proposal went above and beyond the application requirements to completely differentiate myself from other applicants as an asset. 

The proposal worked. 

Talk about timing—the same week I was awarded that assistantship, the educational program director announced that the assistantship would end for everyone, effective at the end of the school year. Although the previous lesson paid off handsomely for me, many of my colleagues and their advisors were blindsided. 

Suddenly, everybody else was scrambling to secure assistantships for the next year, and not everybody was successful.  Some took out graduate student loans to continue their education, whereas others dropped out due to a lack of funding.   

While it was sad to see not everyone return for my final year, I’m glad I chose to apply the main lesson from my first-year experiences. My final year was the most fruitful, with the personal development center for scientists and engineers taking off and going on for years beyond my departure. 

In short, never believe that everything will work out in the end.  Do your due diligence in every aspect of life, whether in school, business, or something personal.  Hopefully, my story and these lessons will help you avoid the same pitfalls and become more proactive in increasing your opportunities so that when the time comes to decide, the only real problem will be that you have options!