Let me just say this in advance, if you're reading this and ever have to interview me in the future: I am so sorry.
I know that everybody gets nervous before interviews. But it doesn't help when you're already de'pouille like me. I can be so intense. Sometimes groups of words escape from my mouth, and I am staggered by the shock of what has just occurred.
So, if you want some good interview advice from me, it's this: don't say things like "...and the third thing I value the most is my social circle, my friends because they were always there when my family wasn't."
OH SWEET JESUS WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW. WHAT WHAT WHAT ARE YOU DOING. WHY ARE YOU BEING INTENSE WITH A COMPLETE STRANGER. BAD. NO. STOP NOW.
Why isn't there an 'editor a 'preview' button for things we say out loud, again?
Granted, I was pretty much incapable of talking to strangers without panicking or wanting to run away until I was 16. I was a painfully shy and awkward kid, who was consistently bullied throughout elementary school and left out of peer groups at most of the schools I attended growing up. I used the term "weird art kid" to describe myself because people didn't want to befriend me too often, however, they did think I was quite proficient at drawing and thought that it was really cool. Essentially, other children thought I was cool, and were nice to me because of it, but also distant, because I was also strange and intense.
Despite growing up facing a lot of pain and rejection, I realized today that I've actually made significant progress, and am not so socially inept that I won't be able to make it in this world. I realized today that at some point, I'm going to have to give myself some credit. So, instead of focusing on the things, I could have done better, or how I wish I could appear more put-together, more mature, older (people mistake me for a 16-year-old on a consistent basis) I'm patting myself on the back for being able to pull myself together and do things that intimidate me. Huzzah!
I should probably mention this, too.
I am now a Francophile working in a French patisserie. I got the job!
A.
