8 months after graduating college, I realized I missed solving physics problems. I drove to the nearest university, walked into the physics department office,

8 months after graduating college, I realized I missed solving physics problems. I drove to the nearest university, walked into the physics department office, and asked to speak to the chair. The chair was busy, but the vice-chair was more than happy to chat for 20 minutes. The vice-chair then took me to a researcher's office, and we chatted for half an hour. That researcher then introduced me to a group professor, who offered my an unpaid-technician job a few days a week. After a couple months happily toiling in the lab, often alongside the PI, I was asked to change to a full-time paid position. A year into that the PI asked me to join the graduate college. I earned a PhD from the group 6 years later. It all worked very nicely for me, and every person was lovely and encouraging through the whole process - regardless of my audacity in asking for the chair!