Chewed Up, Spit Out and Rejected... But A Pretty Good Week

I have 8 weeks left until Ironman Cozumel and if you had asked me a few days ago if I was feeling extremely confident, I have no idea what I would have told you.

Every week has been and will be hectic, but I am slowly learning how to use every second of the day more effectively. Still, I had to miss a run (I had only slept for 3 hours the night before and had to return a recorder to one of my classmates at an exact time that wouldn't be feasible to do if I ran) and a swim (I was out with one of the ABC 11 reporters covering the set up of a U2 concert and barely made it back to the station in time to head off to work at the rock wall). Busy, busy, busy.

I also had two interviews this week regarding my post-grad plans: a telephone interview with Teach for America and an in-person interview in front of a nominating committee for the Luce Scholars Program. On Tuesday, I find out if I will be granted a final interview for Teach for America and unfortunately, I already found out that I did not receive one of the nominations for Luce. While I'm disappointed, I think I will be MUCH more disappointed if I don't make it to the final round of interviews for TFA. Luce is an exciting opportunity, but one that might be better suited for me in a few years once I've gotten to have more experience outside the realm of broadcasting and also, when Morgan and I aren't still living on two different continents.

BUT I did say that I would share the good, bad and the ugly in this blog, but I didn't mention this hilarious. I try to always look on the positive side of things and even though Luce didn't work out for me, the interview itself was quite an experience! I went down to the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and waited in a room of refreshments and large couches until someone came to escort me to the boardroom where my interview would be held. On the walk there, the man escorting me (also on the nominating committee) informed me that the interview would be taped and there was a camera inside, so not to worry. Upon walking in, I noticed five deans of various schools at UNC sitting across from me at a long boardroom table. They greeted me politely and got straight down to business.

First question: "Where will you be in 10 years?" This is the oldest question in the book. Furthermore, I feel that anyone who thinks they know exactly where they will be and what they will be doing in 10 years is kidding themselves. So of course, I talked about the things I wanted to accomplish in the next 10 years and places that I wanted to go, the type of work I wanted to do, etc. One of the women on the panel looked up and asked me if I didn't know what I wanted to do and implied that I was lacking direction because I couldn't tell her where exactly I thought I would be in 10 years. Haha, I probably should have just lied and pretended I knew exactly where I wanted to be 10 years from now.

Second question: "I see that you have been to South Africa... tell us about AIDS in Africa." Well, isn't that a controversial question and also the world's most general question. AIDS IN AFRICA. While I recognized all that this question encompassed, I felt confident in the responses I gave. But really... "tell us about AIDS in Africa"?

There were a few other questions in between, but this was the kicker and the final question: "Do you consider yourself a feminist and why?" Somehow, I felt as though the topic of reproductive rights (i.e. abortion) was unavoidable and that is how I ended the interview. I also may have inadvertently referred to my dad as a homophobe (he isn't) and I happened to mention how often I was told that people were "praying for my soul" the summer that I worked at Feminist Women's Health Center. None of the above are wise things to mention in an interview, particularly an interview in the South.

But you know, these are growing pains and lessons learned. I definitely found the interview situation, looking back, quite funny, but I am somewhat disappointed, too. The fact that my workouts have been suffering so much because of my school/internship workload hasn't been great either. This weekend's workouts, however, began to make up for some of that.

Yesterday, after two days of missed workouts, I ran 18 miles without a second thought. In fact, I rushed back and then jumped on my bike to go to an interview at UNC's football tailgate. I woke up slightly sore this morning and was happy. Today, I biked 75 miles and then ran for an hour afterward, all at a moderate pace. I worked on my nutrition and hydrated more, which helped a lot. I also had GU packs and tried electrolyte tablets for the first time today. Even after 75 miles on the bike, I managed about an 8-minute mile for about 7 miles, which I was pleased with.

All in all, a pretty good week.