Istead of being pushy to prove that you deserve it, try to learn from the interaction.

I recently learned from Jeannie kahwajy, an expert on interpersonal interactions, that her research shows that those who demonstrate that they are willing to learn can turn negative situations around very effectively. Jeannie ran experiments involving mick interviews by recruiters of job candidates. The recruiter was primed beforehand to have a negative bias toward the candidate. Of three groups of candidates one was instructed to prove they should get the job, one was told to learn from the interaction; and the final group, the control, was given no specific instructions. She found that the recruiter's negative bias was reinforced for both the control group and the group that tried to prove they should get the job. However the candidates who set out to learn from the interaction reversed the recruiter' negative bias.