CCCU interview day

Interview time 12.30. 8/2/06

Arrive very early at 10.30 am, promptly get lost in Canterbury, but loads of time so no problem!

11am
Meet up with one of my access course buddies, who has their adult nursing today too, find our way to the refectory and have a cup of tea!

12.30

Go to Powell lecture theatre at canterbury campus for applicants talk through, question time. CRB forms to be handed in and ID to be checked also. I felt incredibly sick, nervous, had palpatations and could have done without this faff to be honest. I just wanted to get it over with.

13.15

Tour of campus (I didn't really take this much, tbh. I figured there was little point in finding my way around a campus I may never get in to!)

14.20

After getting called individually to give in our paperwork etc, and the tour we were called into groups for midwifery, nursing etc and waited for our interviewers to meet us and take us of to interview. (gulp!) There were 12 of us

14.30

Across to erasmus building for a group discussion of the course, question and answer time. Structure and content of the course and its intensity. The necessity for short holidays and many weeks in placement and university. Lots of applicants had very intelligent questions, needless to say I kept quiet! There were four interviewers, two lecturer/ midwives and two practising midwives. They all seemed very nice.

15.15

We were separated into two groups of six, the other group were taken upstairs to another interview room. My group remained downstairs. I t was asked how we wanted to order everyone, had anyone travelled very far and so wanted to go first?
We all stood there blinking!

15.20
First lady goes in, we start to chat a little, some are very reticent to talk, others quite friendly. One or two quite boastful (still know them, no change at all!) As each one came out, said how it went or merely left to go home, so the numbers dwindled, until there was myself and one other. I felt quite sick by now. Terrified I was going to make a huge mistake and not get in, trip up and fall into the laps of the interviewers or something! The other girl got called in, she was very nice. Each candidate had been in ther for between 10 and twenty minutes.

As my wait as last to do continued I remember trying to work out if it was a bad thing if i was last, how had the others done? How would I do? What should I say? should i change the plan I had? Was it good to be in there for a few minutes or twenty?

16.45

Finally I get called in for the biggest moment of my life.
I took a deep breath, walked in, shook both of their hands and sat down. The chair was facing one of them more than the other, I remember moving it so that I could see them both equally, then stopped and said is that ok? (was it some kind of test?)
I looked at them both and remember saying to myself 'please don't be sick' and 'don't say er a lot!'
They asked me 'why do you want to be a midwife?'
'what do you think you could bring to the role?'
'How would you cope with the demands of the course and your home life?'
'What are the negative aspects of midwifery?'
'What aspects of current midwifery news was I interested in?'
'What midwifery books, journals or articles had I been reading?'

I won't answer each one, suffice to say I wasn't sick, but did say 'er..' alot! I was pleased with some answers and not so with some. I walked out after shaking both their hands and asked as I left 'How many times can someone apply, before it is definate they can never get in?' They replied 'as many as they tenacious enough to try!' I nodded and left

Walking to the bus afterwards I thought 'well, that's it, your fate is now sealed' I rang my OH and then my Mum and told them, they both hoped I had done enough to get in (hmmm..)

Back to college to go through the post mortem with everyone there, I was the first of five midwifery students on our course to go, (as was the buddy who had been interivewed for nursing, she was the first of lots of nurses!) so there were alot of interested faces looking at me.

From that day in college (biology day, 9/2/06) we waited an agonising 3 months, after all the theories and tormenting memories of the bad points of your interview (we all did this..) Seeing unsuccessfuls crushed after receipt of THE letter...

I forget wqhat subject we were having that day. Tracker was down, we couldn't find out... We rang via mobile and couldn't get through, tried and tried and finally managed to. I was with two other midwife wanabee's, getting into a real state wondering, just how I was going to deal with not getting in (ever the realist, positive things happen when you know for sure what is going on!) We were sharing a phone, I volunteered to go last, wanting to know, but not!
They both got in and there were tears and screams and hugs, my turn.
I gave my name and waited....

Conditional offer! I was thrilled, so happy and really excited, I had made it! I done enough to get into uni! After everything that was said about not even bothering!

You know the rest...

The access course was fun, but a long time, the interivew day was excruciating, the wait, the very worst thing ever....

But it was the best thing ever, and though it seems a long time ago now, it also feels like yesterday...and I wouldn't change any of it for anything.

Phew, after re-living that am off for a good ol' cry!

Please help us raise funds for a bereavement room in Honey's memory by taking part in the SMNET Auction & Raffle here thanks x