The Interview
So yesterday, I went to the interview with STS, my organization. I will write more about them in a different post.
After I applied to the exchange student program on their website, STS called me a couple of days after. They told me about the structure of the interview and also where it would be. A former exchange student would come to a town close to me. Since I live outside Gothenburg, the interview was held at their head office.
When I got there, I met up with a girl named Louisa. I took my mom with me, which they wanted me to. We sat in a room all three of us. Louisa was really nice and informed us very well! The Interview started with a small Q&A, where I asked how the host family matching system worked, and how it works to choose courses. After that, the actual interview started. There was approximatley 25 questions, which I had to answer in English. For me it was not difficult, since I'm pretty good at speaking and understanding English. I was suprised to understand everything she said, but Louisa also spoke very clearly and she looked me in the eye almost the entire time! I'm not the best at making eye contact..
She started off with some easy and obvious questions - what's your name, when were you born, what's your nationality and is any of your parents present? Then we talked a bit about the personal stuff - expectations, what I do in my free time, what I like about my school, some positive qualities about me, how I will handle homesickness, if I have any failing grades, sickness.. Anything you can imagine! She also told me about her own experience and gave advice.
After the interview, I got sent outside the room to write a SHORT essay (really, it's just a page. I love writing so keeping it that short was a struggle). I had 15 minutes, and somehow I ended up being finished after 5, so I just sat there and read my text over and over, correcting mistakes that did not even exist. While I was writing, Louisa talked to my mother. I later found out she asked about my mother's opinion on this, and if she thought I was mature enough (of course she thought, or else I would not be here). My mother herself worked as an aupair in the USA when she was 18, so she can relate to me in some ways.
After the essay, we asked more questions that came up along the way. The entire process took 2,5 hours. I was so tired afterwards, but I think I made a good impression. I even smiled the entire time and I did not even touch my hair! (I think I have some sort of OCD tbh)
And that is it! Now I just have to wait until the end of next week to find out if I'm accepted or not.. SHIT. What did I get myself into?
Photo belongs to STS.
/ E.L
