Hi everyone. I really love science but it turns out science does not love me.
I was the sort of student that was achieving good grades in my studies (undergraduate and
post-graduate) but never sought attention from Professors through asking meaningless
questions or admiring them in order to attract attention. I was sort of quite, minding my own business and trying to achieve good grades. In the lab things are going brilliant, all my experiments work and I am preparing for my first publication. I opted to do my masters in a small lab with
a lab supervisor that I was certain she would teach me everything she knew and would take my training seriously. Now I am searching for a PhD and went for more "popular" labs in the research center. They turned me down and prefered students that had higher GPA and more impressive CV (like getting a bunch of scholarships). They did not even give me a chance to prove how good I am when it comes to experiments and scientific thinking. They opted for the students I mentioned eventhough they could see that their performance in the lab was mediocre and were even bragging that they had the best students. So now I am searching for a PhD abroad in a different field because the current masters thesis field has no future in terms of funding. I am rejected over and over and just started thinking that if I had a good reference from a "prestigious"
Professor, I could enhance my chances. So I am thinking that if I was seeking attention back then and constantly asking questions to demonstrate better my interest in science, maybe these people might have a different opinion for me. Did I get everything wrong? Should I have turned myself into a smiling, highly competitive, attention-seeking and self-centered student back then?
Am I doing it wrong for being decent and minding my own business?