My ONCE A LIFETIME Experience - The JPA Scholarships Interview

this is my 'adventure' today... the JPA scholarships interview >>

Date: 2 april 2008
Time: 8 am
Venue : kompleks wisma belia, indera mahkota, Kuantan

It all began when i opened my eyes from my dream in the room at the hotel.. it was 5.30am in the morning, and i started to prepare for my JPA scholarshp interview..- tidying up myself, wearing suitable long sleeve shirt and long black slack and a tie.. i also prepared a coat ( to look more formal) for myself to attend the interview..

After having my breakfast, i took all the important documents, and wished all the best b4 i went to the interviewing center in kuantan, the Kompleks Wisma Belia... my father fetch me there..
i reached there at about 7.10 am.. it was considered quiet early because i am the second person to reach there.. the Kompleks Wisma Belia was big,i could hardly find the actual place of the interview.. at last, i found it...

After 15 minutes, more and more candidates approached there... We were all gathered at an open-air hall ( second floor of the building)... There was a white board, where our names, sequence, and our interviewing room is stated on it.. there were 2 interviewing rooms.. then, all of us registered at a counter infront of the hall.. as we had to prepare 2 sets of documents, 1 original and 1 certified copies, the certified copies of documents were given to the officer there.. meanwhile, we have to bring the original ones in a clear holder into the interviewing room..
after the officers(2 women) checked my documents, i sat down and wait for my turn to go in.. Besides, i also walked around to know about other candidates.. they were extreamly friendly and we started to be talkative in just a few minutes.. this way not only gave me the opportunity to know more friends, but also helped me to release my tension.. i started to feel more calm and steady, than i am bfore..

Well i am in the first group consist of 7 candidates.. we are mixed in term of gender, courses applied for, and races..there are 3 boys and 4 girls in my group.. the courses they applied for are engineering, accountancy, pharmacist, biotechnology, and also literature... i applied for engineering and i hope that i can study mechanical engineer in future... after taking our number tag, we cliped it on out clothes and we recieved a small piece of blank paper from the officer..
next, it is the time when all of us walked into the interviewing room..there were only 2 interviewers, 2 of them were women.. both of them are really friendly because they greeted us good morning and smiled to us.. we, as the interviewees sat in a row of chairs, facing the 2 interviewers.. i didnt feel any nervousness anymore and i thought that the interview will be fun, interesting and relaxing.. this is just because of the kindness of the two interviewers.. one of them talked to us, another 1 checking our original documents..

> important event took place!! INTRODUCTION section ( in BM langguage)... we started to introduced ourself.. we were not given the time limit.. so, as my advice, all of you should speak more..its beter than you speak less.. Untill they asked for the next person to speak, i stopped my intro..^^.. i did prepare for the whole script before this..introduction is all about yourself and what course are u applied for.. beter prepare a script for youself... it is always better than you prepare nothing ...we are all given the chance to speak, one by one..

Next> Q&A session (still in BM langguage)..the interviewers started to ask me bound of question... but they are really common questions..
example:* why you want to become a mechanical engineer?
*why study overseas and not malaysia?
*what country you prefer.. why??
*if JPA sends you to another country will you accept??
*if you think english is important and it is an international langguage, do you think that BM can reach the same status as BI in 30 years?? why??
it was so grateful that i could answer all of these in BM well..

NEXT > Giving Opinion On A TOPIC session in ENGLISH..( at the begining, regarded as Group Discusion, but it is defitenitely just a giving opinion session, i dont even have the time to communicate with my groupmate)
the interviewers gave us a topic to give our own opinion..
it was > HOW TO SHOW YOUR LOVE/PATRIOTISME TO YOUR COUNTRY?
we were given 1 minute to prepare our points, using pens and the blank pice of paper given..all my groupmates were really "talkative".. we talked a lot...each of us are allowed to give our opinion with no time limit, but according to our sequence... i was Number 2 in my group, but giving my opinion 2nd counted from behind during this session as the interviewers decided to change to direction of our sequence..we uses english as a langguage during this session..
After 1 hour and 45 minutes of time spending in the room, v finished our interviewing sessions.. as i expect, it was relaxed, and interesting.. all of us spent our time during the interview without fears... it will be a nice memory for us.. after bidding farewell, all of us went home happily..^^.. it was such a relif for me too..

the whole process of my interview had went smoothly and well...as for me, i am statisfied of my performance during the interview..however, it still depends on luck (as i believe) when it all comes untill the end..so, what can i do is just hope for the best...whatever the outcome is, it will be the best experince that i had ever gained in my life..