Summer in LA

I just received the call on Tuesday that I have been accepted into the internship program I was applying and interviewing for. That's right everyone, I am going to be spending my summer in LA, living in the vicinity of UCLA.

There were a total of six interviewers, four of them were members of the board of the organization, head HR and my UIS alumn connect, who happened to be head of the internship program (something she had neglected to tell me). The interview started off as all interviews do, with that dreaded and stupid question of tell me about yourself. After replying with the usual locating data, I told them how Anthropology was my passion because I loved talking and meeting with people, then I dropped a joke about how I am an Economics major because I did not want to end up living in a box. The joke was received well and that was the story for the rest of the interview. When I left that room I felt confident that it went well because there was just so much laughter throughout the interview.

That is not to say that there were no hiccups during the interview. Early on, I mistakenly made the assumption that the interviewers were well off, only to be corrected by one of the interviewers, who laughingly told me that his school board job paid him next to nothing. The head of HR asked me a question about conflicts at work, but the problem was I did not really have any conflicts at work. I managed to bullshit an answer which went along the lines of when there is a conflict in the way things are done, I do as I am told while also doing it my own way so as to show that my way is better. Hardly an impressive answer, I know. Lastly, I got asked a question on what civic leadership means to me. Once again, I pulled something out of my ass and said something about community organizing and grassroots movement.

Also, keeping in mind what the alumn had told me about the head of the organization liking humble people. I dropped the word humble and humility as much as possible, weaving it into how my experience on the campaign trail and with Playmais were humbling experiences.

At first, I was super confident about my interview, but as the days dragged on and the congratulatory call did not come, doubt began to form in my mind. I was told by the alumn that I could expect a call that same night, so as the days dragged by, I thought that they had rejected me. There was always a glimmer of hope in the back of my mind though, because I remembered that the head of the organization upon hearing from the alumn that decisions were to be made that night, had expressed doubt that it was going to happen. Of course this did not keep my insecurities at bay for too long.

When I got the call from the alumn, I was thrilled so thrilled that I was unable to make sense on the phone. Surprisingly (or not), she told me that I did very well on my interview, going so far as to tell me that I was on fire! She said that the panel was very impressed with my maturity and that the head of the organization admired my humility (score!). The mess up with assumption was noted, as well as the fibbing of the conflict question but those were only minor things compared to how amazing I was for the rest of the interview. At the end of the phone call she said that I had exceeded her expectations, especially since when she had first met me at the retreat, I had given off a very abrasive first impression (this was said in a much nicer way).

Basically, this looks like it is going to be a very exciting summer, and I just got word that they want to put me in the LA chamber of commerce, which I am very happy and excited about!

-muffinman