Interview was fine!

The interview went just fine.

I arrived at the Stiles Hall at 10:08 A.M. and signed in on the sign-in sheet right next to my name in bold letters - Aaina Sharma - Pinole Valley High School. I picked my name tag, which was on the table, third row, second to the last. This lady (I forgot her name) told me to wait in the ‘waiting room’ and so I did. There were about ten other people from different schools who were also waiting there. The scholars from past years were also present there to make us feel ‘relaxed’ and ‘un-nervous’. I personally don’t think it helped.

After about twenty minutes of wait, it was finally time for me to go in. I stood up with shivering legs (because of cold, NOT nervousness ). One of the scholars led the way to a passage. She knocked at a door, which was filled with flyers and papers that were stuck on it. About 20 seconds later, someone opened the door and asked me to go in.

There were three people in all. Two ladies and one guy. The first question before I even sat down was, “How do you pronounce your first name?” I tried to explain it by first saying my name the way it’s pronounced and then by saying that it rhymes with “China” and one of the intreviewers said that that was a better way to remember it. I sat down and felt the warm air from the heater, which was right next to where I was sitting.

They said they are going to ask me three main question and two sub-questions. The questions were very similar to what I had answered in the six short essay questions and hence, I didn’t have problems answering the questions but I must admit, I studdered a little. But overall, I think the interview went all right.

I’ll get the result at the end of march. And now to answer Abhi’s question, ‘what is this scholarship all about?’ The Incentive Awards Program gives scholarships to one student from every school in California. The total amount of the scholarship being awarded to each student is $30,000 for the four years of college. Five students from each school are short-listed to go for the interview and then one student out of those five is chosen.

All I can do is pray to god till march when the results come out. And thanks a lot for all your wishes, they truly helped me.

Au revoir…
~Aaina.