Truman Interview | Day 3 - THE BIG DAY!

March 27, 2013.  Let me think... the words I have to describe today are as follows: joy, Jesus, hope, passion, life, beauty, fierce, intelligence, opened-mind... and some mattism(ah ha moment).

The Morning. I woke up at 5am and after stopping by Starbucks for a smoothie and the New York Times I attended 7:30am mass at St. Paul the Apostle Church.  After mass, I prayed with a nun.  I always feel something inside my soul when I am with nuns...I tear up and feel like my soul is touched.  Well, after that I walked next door to Fordham University for my interview.

Earrings | Ecolissa     Outfit,Belt | Maurices     Tights | F21     Heels | Ferragamo (borrowed from Cheryl!)

The Wait.  The wait was really fun.  I was told so many times to "really take advantage of the time and have fun" during the wait.  Well, let me share that from 9:00am - 5:00pm  I enjoyed my time and had fun.  At one point I got so excited in a conversation with Erin, John and David that I practically screeched "No Way!"

My point in sharing 

this is that I was so loud that I 

scared even myself a little bit!

Then I was embarrassed at myself for allowing myself to get that excited and loud. *fun times* As shown in the video below, we were like the official NBA welcome style congratulations after we finished.  I give John credit for that idea of brilliance.  While I am mentioning him, I must point out that he speaks so eloquently... I could listen to him for hours.  I made a video about the interview which was filmed after all of us completed our interviews.  See it below. =)

Sarah and myself.  She is so adorable and has a very kind soul.  We talked a bunch at the pre-interview dinner.

John.  I want to speak as eloquently and enthusiastically as he does. 

 

These two became Truman best friends.  They even shared a loaf of bread.

I bought this juice thinking I wanted to be a "healthy person"... last time I make that decision with an unknown edible!

Ariel.  She is a smiler! And everytime I had the camera by her, she was eating... my bad!

Erin.  I didn't connect as much with Erin but Erin is super artsy! Arsty patartsy!  She had a nice long conversation on "what is creativity" with John.

WE ARE AMAZING.  John had the splendid idea to make an NBA style welcome back after a candidate came back from the interview.  This is one thing that made our day so much fun and personal! BTW- in this picture I asked everyone to make an obnoxious/silly/posey face, and only Sam looked fierce...haha. :p

I wrote "1 Cor 13:13" and "Matt 21:21" on my arm right before I went in for my interview.  These gave me strength.  When Jack (Abraham) saw me writing on my arm he had a mini freak out and was like, "What are you doing? Don't write notes on your arm!"  Thanks for caring, Jack! haha... It was just Jesus love I was writing. :)

Filmed March 27, 2013 at Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York, New York.

Compiled March 29th, 2013 by Christine Tjahjadi-Lopez.

"The Interview."  Right before my interview I prayed in the bathroom.  When I walked into the interview room I saw all the 8 judges on one side of an oval table about 8-10 feet long.  They were all on one side with mounds of paper in a 3"binder and loose papers swamping their side of the table.  Of all things, the mounds of paper surprised me most.  I knew how they looked because I have pictures of their faces on the wall right next to my bed at home.  Creepy? A bit.  Necessary? Absolutely! *My brilliant idea* *Permission to duplicate idea? Granted (Bippidy Boppody Boo!)* The interview started promptly, no had shaking, no "Who are you, how are you."  I was fully prepared to talk about my policy and aspirations.  Why? Because my application is me and my fabulous adviser Elizabeth Colucci set up mock interviews, had me running around town meeting amazing people, and on top of that I set up 5 outside practice interviews and absorbed like a sponge.  That is 9 practice interviews in total, people!

I was not thrown off by any 

particular question, even though I could 

tell they tried.  I kept my cool 

the whole time... no wait! I actually 

started tearing up at one point.

This was when I spoke about a letter I received from one of the girls at the first Girls Day event I held.  Every time I think about that letter I cry because she wrote that it was the best day of her life and it allowed her to see her beauty.  I panicked internally when I realized my eyes were welling up with tears because I didn't want them to think that I was trying to cry.  Thank goodness one of the judges immediately asked a question, it took my mind off how touched I was at that letter.  *What a girl I am!*  As the interview went on, I realized this really was a conversation, and the interview was SO FUN!  I would totally like to do another interview like this!  I was so prepared, I suppose the 10-12 hour preparation days paid off. Ya think?  When Tara Yglesias said "...and this is going to be your last question" I actually didn't panic because at that point, I told them everything they needed to know about me.

I knew at that point that I had 

shared my personality, my passion, 

my love, my joy... the essence of my being...

and as Sam Cavalleri said, which helped me so much, "You are still you, you are just a young professional." This is the one phrase that pushed me to keep my poise.  This let me know that it is okay to be young while you reach new heights.

After the Interview.  I went to church once more to thank God for the blessings He has placed me in, especially my family. I also thanked Him for what is to come for me. God works through my life.  He can work through you too... if you open your life to him. Faith opens life because faith is belief in God which you can't see... thus things that happen through faith are also unexplained.  Even if I don't win, being at the interview and meeting the people I did was fulfilling enough to make the past 7 months of preparation worth my time!  *Amazingness*  I made phone calls after I got back to the hotel and cleaned my hotel room then went walking to different stores to find a shirt to match my new skirt.  How curious that I couldn't find not one top to match a skirt I bought yesterday.  I expected more from New York City. If I went to Time Square I may have found something.  And now I am blogging! <3  I made a vlog for you too:

[That is one weird face I'm making... focus on the "three"]

 My Constant. I am doing this interview and giving my all so that I can free slaves today, tomorrow, and until I die, and inspire future generations to do the same.  As for today, I was so joyful to realize that people my age I can learn from and still inspire.  Almost all of the people in that room has perspectives like me:

"I get along with people younger and older than

me because I connect with 

older people & inspire younger people.  

I'm just trapped in this body." 

STORY OF MY LIFE!

I was so happy to FINALLY be in a room with others who dreamed big since childhood.  Joy, joy, joy.  One more thing... I actually had Matthew 21:21 on me the entire day, hidden in my clothing. hahaha

"Jesus replied, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith and 

do not doubt, not only can you do what was done

 to the fig tree, but also you can say to this 

mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done."

Matthew 21:21

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Thank you to everyone who helped me reach the coveted TRUMAN INTERVIEW!

Thank you God for pushing me to help your people and giving me a burning burden to love your people!

Thank you to all my advisers (Especially Elizabeth, Sarah, Shin, Dr. Ott, Heather, Sam, Trina and Dr. Werner)!  You all did so much for me, and made me feel like I was worth your extra time! 

Thank you to all my friends for your motivation and encouragement! Especially those who reached out to me today, Almas, Zuli, Nadia, Susan, Neha and Josh!  That meant so much to me.
Thank you Ecolissa for sending me clothing to wear at the interview and the pre-interiew dinner!

Thank you to all my family- you helped shape me, I love you more than I could love anything or anyone else on this large rock we call Earth. 

If I win or don't win I want you to know that you are all helping me help the world.

__________________________________________________________

Amen,

Christine