The 10 days which changed my life

vedang96@gmail.com

It was sometime around August when i learned that I've been selected ; Yessssssss! Selected and won  a scholarship to Japan.

Blood was running in my veins at the speed of a Japanese bullet train. So here is how all this happened.

Scene 1 :

I knew about AFS since long. Its a non-profitable organization promoting world peace and friendship which sends, every year, Indian students to countries like the USA, France, Japan, Germany and Italy. It also hosts foreign students from these countries and helps these students get an idea of the Indian culture. Thus, every exchange student learns a lot about the country he/she is staying in and tells his/her fellows about his/her own country.

I have friends who went to one or the other country for 10 or  6 or 1 month(s) exchange programs. One of them also went for 15 days short term program to Japan.
All of them; Changed; Before and after; Huge change in their personalities; Definitely positive.

So, the question was, Why am I not applying for such a program? The answer was my parents. Actually its a long story and i don't really want to get into it. Just know that i wasn't allowed to go.
AFS volunteers had visited our school the other day announcing the short term, student exchange program of 10 days in Japan. It offered 100% scholarship which meant i need not pay a single penny and all my expenses including the air-fare and visa were covered in the scholarship.

A voice came from the sky, " What the hell are you waiting for Vedang? Go! Get your dream! "
Lol. That was just imaginative.

So, I got an application form at which i kept staring for almost a week thinking should I apply or not? And if yes, am i capable and smart enough to win the scholarship? And similar other kinds of questions were running through my mind!

Secondly. How am i gonna convince my mom to let me apply? But then i thought, 'when its right, its right' so without my mom's permission, I filled the form.
Actually speaking, i had no expectations on if i am going to be selected or not. I was just happy that I did what I felt was right.

Finally, one fine Saturday morning, I got a call from a local AFS volunteer. As usual I was away hence my mom picked up the the call. The call was for an interview. Yes. I had cleared the first round and was called for a personal interview which was to be held next sunday in my own school :) So yeah, i had an advantage (purely psychological).

Scene : 2 : The day of Interview

The big day, Sunday; the day of my Interview had come. I obviously was nervous and excited.

My whole family too was excited. I had called a dozens of other exchange students asking them what kind of questions will the interviewers ask me? What kind of answer will they expect from and blah blah blah. 

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So skipping the other things, I finally was in front of the interviewers. To my surprise, I knew three out of the total four people personally. This made me relax. Very relaxed.

So here was the first question- " Are you nervous?" to which i replied what i actually felt at that point of time- " No. I am rather more excited" which immediately drew a smile on their face.

Well begun is half done as they say. A number of other questions followed after which they made me imagine few situations and asked me how would i react if i were facing that situation practically. One of which i remember. One of them asked me that what will i do if there is an earthquake in Japan and i experience it? I honestly replied that i will first secure myself and find some safe place and then, if possible, will help others around. This answer seemed to have marked an impression in their eyes. 

After my personal interview, my parents were called upon for the same. I still have no clue of what were they asked but i know, nothing bad happened.

Scene : 3 : Results

Oh yes, before the results were announced, I had been running here and there collecting documents and giving medical tests ; the same which were to be sent to the AFS National office based in New Delhi. I failed to submit the test results by the dead-line as few tests some rules to be followed for eg. some tests can only be conducted before the meal or after the meal. I finally sent the documents a day late which didn't make a huge difference.  

A month had passed and still there was no trace of results. A week passed. And then another. I got more and more desperate until i finally wrote to the National office demanding the results. 

I still remember how Richa (sending co-coordinator) had replied with many smilies. It was something like this : " I guess you should check you inbox carefully :) :) :D" .

Those words suddenly increased my heartbeat and i started checking my email inbox. But still, there was no message from the national office yet. I checked it again and again until i found it on the SPAM folder. Huh. Poor google treated probably the most important email of my life as a SPAM. The email read,

" Congratulations! You've been selected..."

I read it. And then read it again not believing my eyes!  There it was; I finally nailed it!

Frankly speaking, I was jumping like a basketball. I was so much excited and was almost into tears reading the message which appreciated me and my achievements. Never on earth one would be able to describe how i felt then reading 'CONGRATULATIONS...' .