This time last year, I had graduated and spent almost 6 months unemployed and looking for a job. I got very few interviews, no job offers, and was seriously starting to lose my mind from it all. I had just started running every morning to try to get in shape--I was considering joining the military so that I could have some job to support myself. I didn't really want to do it, but it seemed like the only option I had, and I was getting so sick of being turned down by every company I applied to.



One day last summer, I was going to talk to a Navy recruiter to become a nuclear propulsion officer. I went to the recruiter's office to take some kind of aptitude/knowledge/qualification test, and as a complete surprise to me, it turned out that I got the highest score the recruiter had ever seen. I think part of that was because the test asked a lot of engineering related questions, so my education and background helped. But additionally, I had put a lot of effort into my studies, and that was really the first chance I had to show it. That meant I could have chosen pretty much any job within the military, and I would have been accepted.



The result I got on that test made me think it wasn't so hopeless. In a way, it reminded me that I shouldn't sell myself short even though things hadn't been going well. Everything kind of started to change that day. I had been accepted into graduate school, so I decided I would take the risk and avoid joining the military in favor of continuing my studies. I lost out on a full time job with good benefits, but I thought it might be worth it.



Later on last summer, I got to meet my girlfriend in person for the first time. Ironically, at that same time that was happening, a professor offered me a job as a research assistant if he could secure funding for a project.



I'm halfway through my masters degree now. I started working for that professor, so my work funds my classes and living expenses. He's complimented me several times. He likes that I show up on time, I'm always interested, and I've very focused on my work (not all of this can be said about the other students he advises). I've made very good grades since starting graduate school, and this week I'm leaving for a summer internship. I almost didn't think it was possible, but yes, I finally managed to get one of those.



In addition to preparing for that, I'm also planning a third vacation with my girlfriend this summer, and also working on the paperwork to begin my thesis in the fall. Life has been busy as crap with classes and research, but a year ago, I almost couldn't have predicted things would turn out as okay as this.



Looking back now, I guess everything turned out as it should have. I just didn't know it at the time.