UM and UPSI Tesl Interview

Assalamualaikum. Wow, just wow. It's quite awkward to start writing again here. The fact that i've been abandoning this blog for almost two years makes everything seems more awkward. The thought of starting to blog again was actually lingered in my mind long, long time ago, but I am gradually losing my time to write. Been very busy with my life outside there that I was left with little time to pay attention to this little site (here I am giving excuses at my best, tehee) And I guess now is the perfect time to start blogging again since I have to brush up my writing skills for upcoming degree life (cehh). Well, as a kick-start (and requested by some of my juniors) I would love to share about the experience I had during my two TESL interviews, one for Universiti Malaya and the other is Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris. This is going to be a very long post, you've been warned.

                                                                                                         

My UM interview was on 24th May (I think so? forgive me for my short-term memory) so I arrived there (thanks to my temporary driver, alynn) at around 2pm. I think I was one of the latecomers since the letter stated that we must be there at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time, which was at 2pm. I guess Athirah dan datang lewat berpisah tiada. Anyway, let's jump into the interview session. I had to wait for about 2 hours before my name got called. So I went in and did the color blind test first before they told me to sit.

Okay, what should we call you? 
Athirah should be fine, sir.
Okay Athirah, tell me about yourself, your parent's background, siblings and others that we need to know.
My name is bla bla bla (telling about myself, my parents' occupation, how many siblings I have, about my hometown)
So Athirah, we found that most of the Sabahans can speak very well in English, what do you think are the factors? (I can barely remember the exact question, but I think this is similar)
*paused for few seconds* Erm i think one of the factors comes from one's surroundings bla bla bla (talking about how the mixing of different races affect the way of communication, peer factor, family's communication and other points that I couldn't remember)
How about yourself? Who affect you?
Err emm *stuttered* well... my family and i communicate in English at home once in a while. I think that helps a lot ( i was running out of idea that time, duh)
Ok, why do you want to be a teacher? Give us three points.
Firstly, i have passion in teaching, it's my dream to be a teacher since i was in primary school. Next, teacher is a noble profession, many great leaders are the product of a teacher. Emm errr *paused*
We need three points, you only give us two.
Sorry sir. Ok lastly, teacher is a challenging profession, i like to challenge myself bla bla bla (again, i forgot the points)
Baik, berikan kami sebab mengapa guru Bahasa Inggeris amat penting pada masa sekarang.
One of the reas-
Sila berikan jawapan dalam Bahasa Melayu
Err sorry! *choked and laughed a bit* -_- Haa ok, guru Bahasa Inggeris sangat penting kerana bla bla bla (gave some reasons which i think were logic enough)
Can you teach? Imagine we are your students. There's a whiteboard behind you. Oh you may erase that.
*starts writing on the board* So, i see that most of students nowadays are confused of verb and noun (explained the differences, gave few examples)
A very good lesson. You are aware of most students' problem.
Thank you, sir! *flattered a bit, hehe*

Couldn't remember what was the next question though. Before they dismissed me, one of the interviewers asked "In 10 years from now, what do you think you will be?" I thought being a little cheeky this time won't hurt so I said.. "I'm going to be a successful English teacher and.... of course a devoted wife with cute children!" They immediately burst into laughter, ha! After thanking them, I walked out of the room feeling a bit embarrassed about what have I done -_- Overall, it was ok, just ok. As you could see, i stuttered a lot and some of the points i gave were not even related to the question, wtv. Glad that it was over.

Next is my UPSI interview which was held at UMS, on 21st June. This time, there were 3 sessions - writing test, oral/speaking test and interview. Reached there around 8am and waited for an hour before they called us, the Tesl candidates for our first session, writing test. Part A was basically to test your grammar skill, there were 30 questions all together (if im not mistaken) and Part B was the essay. The format for essay question was kind of similar to my previous MUET test (explain the reports based on diagram given). Oral test was held right after the writing test. The questions were basically about myself, why I choose UPSI, why I want to be a teacher, random questions and yes, the interviewer psycho-ed me with some killer questions as well. There was this one question that really hit me hard, "You took foundation in science before, so why in the world you choose Tesl out of many science-related courses? Is this your back-up plan only?" and another one was "Both of your parents are a pharmacist, why don't you follow their path? Well, based on your result, you can apply for a better course" Boom! The way she asked me was kind of.... harsh, and it seemed like she gave me a silent rejection, duh. I was stunned because of the nerve-wrecking questions tho. In a shaking voice, I gave her some possible reasons (passion, dare to be different, foundation year was an eye-opening experience, shared about my ipg tesl interview bla bla bla) and it was finally over, thanks Lord!

Here came the last session. This time, the interview was held in a group of five or six. Mine was the last group to be interviewed, the LAST one, can you imagine how long i waited? -_- While waiting, i  got to know a few nice people, and luckily we got into the same group. So it was finally our group turn. The questions were;
1) Introduce yourself, tell us where is your former institution and final result you got.
2) Why do you want to be a teacher.
3) Who inspired you to be a teacher.
4) Tell us what are the special features in your former secondary school.
5) Sing your favourite song (yes, seriously, we had to sing in front of them, one by one)
I think that was all? it was indeed one quick, relaxing interview i must say. Before leaving the room, they asked all of us to sing Sabah's popular song "Sayang Kinabalu" hahaha it was fun!! The interviewer was smiling throughout the interview and when any of us stuttered, he helped finishing the sentences, lol. Overall, everything was fine for me except the physcho stuff during the oral tesl, haha! Ok done! Let's move on.

So the UPU result was finally out yesterday. Unlike the previous UPU result after SPM, this time I didn't feel nervous at all and i could sleep peacefully the night before. I think it was because I've prepared for this? I guess so. Well here it is..

Alhamdulillah. Although.. to be honest, I was hoping to get UPSI since I think i performed well during the interview. But who can say no to what Allah has decreed for us? But then again, I am still happy and grateful for this. Still, it freaks me out a bit. We are talking about UM here, i have already feel the pressure. And of course the expectation from my parents is high. I am just afraid that I can't live up to their high expectation. Plus, i am a newcomer in this course since i was a science student previously so my basics are only for English, not Tesl. I heard too that most of my future coursemates come from Tesl Foundation *gulp* Ok ok trying to be positive here. I don't know what the future holds but I have faith in Allah. I know degree life is going to be a roaller-coaster ride, but as long as i have DUIT, it'll be ok InshaAllah (Duit- Doa, Usaha, Ikhtiar, Tawakal)

I should stop here or else it'll gonna be a loooooooooooooooooong never-ending post. Till then.