The Journey: On a seasoned supervisor coupled with funding

To fully appreciate this post, kindly read;

• The story and background
• The application process

After successfully gaining admission, I immediately went on a supervisor hunt.

Here is a summary with timelines;

• Started reaching out to supervisors.
• Reached out to my current supervisor on November 20 2020 after rejection from other supervisors.
• Had my interview on 25 February 2021 and 1 March 2021
• Got the interview results on 25 March 2021 (two days after my birthday – perfect birthday gift ever!)
• Got my funding letter on 1 April 2021

Started my search for a supervisor

This was my last chance to make it work, if it didn’t I would be at peace knowing I did all I could. I had concluded that this whole thing – this whole school thing is not for me if this didn’t work out. Definitely focus on my work with the United Nations World Food Programme. 

Immediately my admission, I reached out to a couple of professors. Two of them got back to me. One said he is only looking for Ph.D. students, the other reviewed my resume but never got back to me again.

I knew I had to restrategize – I needed an inside man or woman! I went to LinkedIn and did a quick search – I typed “University of New Brunswick”. Got my inside man from the list. A fellow alma mater from “Nyansapo Wosane No Badwenma”. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Kwasi Boakye-Boateng. What a great asset he has been in my journey. My story will be flat without his insight and tips. I requested to be his connection and added a page-long essay of my anxieties and concerns. He was very friendly even though we didn’t know each other apart from the fact that we may have probably sat in the same classrooms at different times since he also studied Computer Engineering for his undergrad.

Enough, let’s head right back in. As I was saying, Kwasi is instrumental in my story. He told me to reach out to Professor Ali Ghorbani and I didn’t hesitate. The accolades attached this man’s name, the success, the experience, the expertise. 

Reached out to Professor Ali Ghorbani

Before sending an email, I did my homework. I read a good number of his papers and filtered the ones that were related to machine learning, drafted an email, and sent it to him. It is not as simple as it may appear to be.

Word of Caution: Sending an email to your potential supervisor for the first time needs to be crafted carefully – no lazy work, put in the effort, read his papers, understand it, and then you can draft that email. Let someone review it for you – a second eye always never hurts. 

Well, after sending the email, he responded in less than 10 minutes, you are wondering what his response was? Well, he asked me if I had my Student Visa. I had applied for my Student Visa on 19 October 2020 – I then told him it was being processed by IRCC in my home country. His response after that was to send an email once I receive my Student Visa.

Student Visa Approval

The timeline from when I reached out to my supervisor(4 November 2020) to when my Student Visa application status was updated to “approved”(9 February 2021) was about three months. My acceptance by my potential supervisor was hinged on the approval of my Student Visa – at least so I thought 🤣. 

I then reached out to Professor Ghorbani, shared the screenshot below, and informed him my study permit has been approved. Well, here comes the next hurdle – Dr. Sajjad Dadkhah along with Dr. Farzaneh Shoeleh had to interview me before he makes his final decision. Oh boy! 😦

Interview with Dr. Sajjad Dadkhah

Dr. Sajjad Dadkhah scheduled our interview for 25 February 2021. My anxiety was rocket high the days leading to my interview.

Here comes the faithful 25 February, the interview started obviously with an introduction, got asked a couple of questions and well, the Electricity Company of my beloved country decided to turn my lights off. 

I was disappointed – in the middle of something so important. In the middle of an interview that will determine whether I will get funding and these people decide to take my lights on today of all days? I was upset – angry at best, I nearly exploded. 

However, my interviewers were so understanding and they agreed to reschedule to 1 March. I guess that gives me some more days to brush up on a couple of things huh? That was not how I felt at the moment. All I felt was anger.

Admittedly, my interview was tough. It was hands-on. 

I live-coded in front of my interview panel. The questions were diverse; ranging from Object-Oriented Programming to Data Structures, to Databases, Machine Learning, Big Data, among others. 

At the interview, I was allowed to ask a question(s) if I had any and guess the question I asked – well you guessed right. “When should I hear from them about the outcome/results of the interview?” I also asked the question of “Are there a fixed number of papers I should have published at the end of my graduate program?”

You should always have a question(s) to ask after every interview and I mean every interview – it shows how prepared you are.

The interview results 

On the 25 March, just two days after my birthday, here comes the interview results. This was indeed the perfect birthday gift I didn’t see coming that I needed and deserved. 

I cried like a baby when I read the email. Knowing my persistence and trying finally paid off! Knowing it wasn’t an easy road – a bumpy, thorny, and rough road that only requires grace. All odds were against me and I was told to give up because it looked like I was chasing a fantasy that may never become reality. I wasn’t! 

Giving up was far from the story I was writing – it wasn’t in my vocabulary and not in my script.

The funding

Since my Visa was delayed I had to start my graduate study in Summer 2021. Before coming to Canada, I requested my funding letter and violá! I am grateful!