“Stop being a worthless creature and apply!” Those words were said by a friend of mine, convincing me to apply for AMSC’13 (Alexandria Model of Security Council 2013). So, with the aid of Google, Wikipedia and Google translate – may God bless them – I filled the online application and waited for a phone call.
*The next day*
Caller: Hello. Youssef Abdelaziz?
Me: Yes?
Caller: You have passed the application phase and you have an interview tomorrow at 11 A.M at Saint Gabriel School, do you know the venue?
Me: Yes, sure, I know. *I had no idea about it*
Caller: Best of luck then.
I stood still for 5 minutes, I had no idea what to do, and it was my first experience in the civil society. Should I ask my friend? Or should I read and collect more information about the whole thing from their Facebook page? Finally, I decided to ask him and BAAAM! He didn’t know a thing, either! So, the only way I had left was searching. I searched and read almost every single word I could find related to the Security Council. I spent almost 7 hours reading about the topic.
The following day I woke up, took a fast last look at the papers I prepared and went off. As soon as I arrived, the anxiety began to get to me, and I was staring at the door trying to make a plan to run away but they ruined it and called my name. In my mind I was saying “Get yourself together, it’s too late to escape now,” and I walked in.
My interviewers were two elegant smiling ladies, and that was enough to relieve me and allow me to start thinking about giving a good impression in the interview. Regardless of the exact details of the interview, let me mention memorable points.
* The 7 hours of searching were completely worthless; during the interview they asked me only 3 questions related to the Security Council. After the interview I was this close to having a heart attack because of that.
* Since I hadn’t been to an interview before, creativity questions were so weird to me. How can we make chicken lay colored eggs? Convince me that this room is spherical? I was like “Really? Is that what I’m here for?”
Having your first interview is like having your first date, you are worried and afraid of spoiling things and ruining the day, but once you start dealing with it and building momentum, you will become a player in the game and nothing can or will stop you.
Youssef Abdelaziz
EDITOR: Mennat-Allah Yasser Zohny