CAAS INTERVIEW - ROUND 1

looking back, it has been a fun-filled episode in the polytechnic. i'm going into my final stretch of my tertiary education. 6 more weeks, few more papers, and i will be a graduate from NP. i have mixed emotions towards this. the euphoric part centers on the fact that, upon graduation, i will have a long stretch of holidays. no more projects, exams and homework. having said that, the joyous time i had in school will be gone too. hah. i had better enjoy whatever time i have here.

i spend the last few days preparing for my CAAS interview. yes, it's over (not my scholarship aspiration la, i meant the interview is over. haha). going up against 15 other students from the top jcs in singapore, the atmosphere was rather tense. i kid you not. the guy on my right was from rjc. lady beside him was his schoolmate. the lady in front of me was also from rjc. she was flanked by people from hcjc. the confident chap on my left, he was already 1 year into his NS term, an officer from signals. oh, he was from temasek. temasek jc. having said that, they were all lovely and affable people. i had a great time talking to them about their aspirations and where they wanted to head after this. regarding the entire assessment? it's a long long story.

first up was the group discussion. i was thoroughly humbled. these people can really talk. period. their english had a mesmerising and melodic feel to it, as if they were singing, and i was allured to it. i think they make outstanding lawyers. i had to cut in when they were talking to make my stand, else i wouldn't get a chance to speak at all. as expected, my speech was cut into as well.

fortunately, the day got better. we were given our individual airtime to talk about what we felt about leadership and what was the most important value to us. personality test and essay were next (yes, no breaks in between everything i had mentioned). finally, at 1.30pm, it was lunch. an hour later, it was intensive questioning (again), presentation of prepared speech and 1-to-1 interview. i won't go into detail about what they asked. let's just say i felt more at ease in the later part of the day compared to the mind-boggling group discussion. that was a killer. i really hope i make the cut for the second interview.

regarding new year resolutions, i have a few. but i guess the most important one is this.

i need to be on time for school/appointments.