So my interview day arrived, and I’d say I did alright. I think I wasn’t inadequate nor perfect. It was actually not what I was expecting at all. I expected there will be at least 30 kids because of what I had heard was that AFS is the second largest for CBYX. My interview was held in New York. I was expecting a large group, but there were only 8 other applicants there. Matter of fact, if I remember correctly one didn’t even show up at all! I was the first one to arrive which I thought was a good sign. I was taken into an open conference looking area and waited about twenty minutes before the process began. The rest of the applicants began arriving as nine o’clock was getting closer. It was a bit awkward at first because we were just looking at each other for a bit. Then we slowly started asking each other questions like “What grade are you in?,” or ” What part of New York are you from?” The simple questions to build a conversation. Another big shock to me was how many seniors there were. The majority of the applicants were seniors, two sophomores(including me), and one freshman. Seeing how many seniors there were made me quite nervous because they had way more experience than I. They started talking about how many college interviews they had been to, and some of them had been to other exchanges programs. If I recall, there was one girl who had been to China on another exchange program. So after hearing all of their experiences, it made me really anxious and I began thinking I did not stand a chance at being selected as a finalist, nor an alternate. Moreover, the interview section was not that bad in my opinion, they asked me both hypothetical and situational questions. However, since I’m a fast thinker, I answered the questions right after the interviewers finished asking them. I recommend waiting at least 4 seconds after they ask you the questions even if you have your answer already processed. Since the interview is already finished, I have to wait until March or April to see if I will receive the scholarship or not. All I can do is pray now.
Until Next Time…
Cheers