My parents helped me think about what to expect and a good friend of theirs even gave me a mock interview. He also gave me some pointers to think about, but said I did great. Coming from a man who has a prestigious background and interviews students for Brown University, that meant a lot to me! Thank you, Mr. H!! I wanted to call him Mr. Bill, but that sort of reminds me of the little clay character that was always getting smashed, so I choose Mr. H.
I decided I wanted to make a good impression so I wore some nice slacks, button down shirt and a tie. I like to look nice and people tend to remember you for negative reasons if you under dress.
So, the morning of the interview I think my mom was more nervous than me. We left the house early to get into Albuquerque, allowing for possible traffic problems. We got to the hotel at like 0925 and my interview was not supposed to begin until 1000. So I had time to relax, remember to breathe and thought about Germany and how cool it was going to be!!
Finally it was my turn and my parents talked with one lady who actually works with the FLEX program of FLAG. I talked with two ladies. One was representing FLAG and the other represented CBYX.
The interview was more like a conversation. I was expecting something like a job interview or something. The ladies were very nice and easy to talk with. They asked many different questions and I'm sure they change them up for each round.
The main things to remember are:
1. Be Yourself!
2. Relax, they're not going to eat you!
My parents said that their chat with the person from FLEX was really helpful and informative.
After my portion with the two reps was over, my parents went to talk with them and I hung out with the FLEX rep and another applicant. We talked, I gave out my email address, too. We didn't have a group project as I had read about with other years. I'm not sure if that's something they changed or if we had too small of a group.
I feel good about my interview. I was open and honest. Being the youngest applicant, I do have a worry that my age could go against me. I won't be 15 until August 6, we leave August 8. You have to be 15 the date of travel. I don't know if I'm the youngest applicant to date, or just this year.
We all find out April 1st... April Fools day! They did promise not to prank us though! hehehe
A few tips to help ease the anxiety/stress.
Have a good support group. My family is very supportive and we talk, a lot.
**adding this note here. It has been decided (for good reasons) that facebook groups for FLAG hopefuls is not allowed. We are not sure about finalists. Anyone who makes a group in the future will most likely be in trouble. Due to some not so great things that were said by a student, the management of FLAG had the group disbanded. If someone misrepresents FLAG in any way, it could reflect poorly on their Congressional funding. Sometimes people don't use their best judgement. If you want to keep in touch with those you interviewed with, get the email addresses and friend them that way. Just keep in mind what you are saying in public can come back and bite you. It's best never to air out your dirty laundry online anyways, that stuff NEVER goes away. Once it's on the net, it is there forever.
Zach
