I must admit, I was very nervous. As with any interview, you dread having a question that you cannot develop a response. Luckily for me, Peace Corps Wiki saved my life. Honestly, every question he asked me was posted on that website!
The interview was at ASU, which was very convenient because its about 10 minutes away from my apartment. I left half an hour early and got there 15 minutes before the interview. I walked into the Study Abroad Office to hear that Mr. Toure (my recruiter) was running a tad bit late. My nerves, of course, kicked in about there. I was pacing the room and probably looked like a freak in my suit. I decided to grab a study abroad in France brochure to practice my french. Turns out, I dont know shit despite having 2 years behind me. Then he walked in, shook my hand, and took my to a small room.
The room was tiny with a large map of world on the wall. I filled out some paper work, he gave me some forms, and the interview questions began. He asked what my inspiration was for joining. I told him about my experience about my experience in South Africa and desire to make a permanent impact. He asked questions about leadership, fears, ambitions, frustrations, and working in unstructured situations. The interview part itself lasted about 20 minutes. Afterwards he did my fingerprints as we joked around with one another.
He is a very interesting guy. He told me some stories from Tonga where he had been a PCV. He told me his biggest challenges, biggest fears, and biggest successes. He informed me that the hardest part for him was the concept of time. Time on Tonga was slow and unrushed, in stark contrast to the concept of time here in the U.S.. He would think on his worst days, 'Im on a kickass island, how bad can today be?'
At the end I asked him if he could see me as a PCV. He replied that he needs to look over my application, my interview transcript, and references. So now, I play the Peace Corps game, waiting.
