Interviews.. and Other Things

So, let's talk about the college interview.

At first, you're scared. Nervous. Petrified. You wonder if the other guy (or girl) is going to like what you say, what you have done, basically, who you are. You spend so much time before your first "inspection" dreading the afternoon after Physics class and sitting in front of your Webassign with clammy hands (okay, so this may not apply to everyone.. :D). It seems a bit ridiculous, but I guess this is basically how I felt before my first interview. To tell the truth though, all of the worrying and sweating was for nothing.

The interview serves two purposes: 1. to see what kind of a person you are-- if you are as interesting in person as you are on paper, or in some cases more interesting in person 2. to see why you are interested in attending a certain school and also to give you more information about that school. I never really try to impress my interviewer (besides the whole dressing up thing, but that should always be a priority). At first, I was really worried about my answers. What if I say something wrong and offend my interviewer? But seriously, thinking about it and actually doing it are two different things. Most of the times, you think weird things are going to happen when it actually is quite impossible. Like, when I think too much about how to conduct. The four-four patterns just go away. Sometimes, however, you pysche yourself out by thinking too much. Like my sophomore year all state audition. I completely doubted my abilities to play a G scale, and at auditions I bombed it. So, I just stopped thinking about the interviews and started talking. I talked about almost everything: my family, my friends, music, writing, public health, Science Olympiad, being with children... everything.

This is going to sound cliche, but here goes: you cannot change who you are or what you have done in the past. Colleges look for people who will add to their communities, so you may think that you need to mold yourself into some "Ivy League" material shape. But, look at it from the other side. This is the beginning of the rest of our lives. Shouldn't we be looking for colleges that are molded into the "Emily" material shape? I know, it sounds silly. But, that's what got me through these interviews: knowing that there is nobody to impress, that my personality and background will take me to where I belong, and that having an interview is just another way of meeting people and learning about their experiences at a certain place. Like Dr. Okor always says... "That's all!"

Maybe I wrote this down for future reference (for graduate school confidence or something). Maybe I wrote this down to teach others... whoever reads stumbles upon this blog. Or maybe I even wrote this down so that later, in April, I can look back on this post and laugh at myself. (Probably the latter is the best reason. :D haha) Whatever the case, my college interview experience was overall really good. I had a lot of fun learning about the places I would like to go, and also, let's not forget about the nice food.