That Interview Invite

After the application is in….secondaries have been received and sent back off…comes the agonizing wait for interview invitations…or rejection letters.

That first rejection letter HURTS….and hurts even more when it was a top choice school.  It feels like all of you and your spouse’s hopes and dreams just went up in smoke.  Good news…they didn’t!  If you are like most people, the application went out to a ton more schools. Which means that there is a bunch more emails or envelopes that still can help you out in reaching that dream! 

That first interview invite is so exciting!  (I’m thinking Sally Field “You like me.  You really like me.”)  It’s confirmation that all of that hard work has finally paid off, that all of that extra time doing research or shadowing served a purpose and all those hours spent on the application and secondary were worth every minute.

My husband scheduled his first interview for the first open spot.  It was about a month away.  Luckily for us, it was driving distance (about 4 hours).  I started looking for a hotel.  Then my mom asked, “Are you going with him?”  I never really thought about it.  But, yes, I wanted to!  After all, it wasn’t only him moving for 4 years…it was our whole family.  I wanted to check out housing, the schools, the community, and talk to people.  So we made the arrangements for me to join him.  I’m so glad I did.

While he was in his interview, I drove around town, talked to moms at the park, and found the elementary schools.  I ate lunch at a restaurant with free wi-fi and browsed craigslist for local rentals.  Obviously they wouldn’t still be available when we moved, but they gave me a great idea of what was available, price ranges and I could see the neighborhoods.  I drove by most of those rentals. I left that town feeling so comfortable and confident that I could be perfectly happy raising my kids in this town.  That was huge.

I can’t help but write about his first interview.  It really is the worst nightmare for a first interview.  This goes to show you no matter how much planning you can’t always plan!  We arrived the day before the interview.  We drove around the town noting what was familiar and what was new. Found the school and found the easiest route from hotel to school.  We also timed the route.  The last thing my husband wanted was to be late….little did we know…

My husband is early to everything.  Not just a few minutes early but EARLY.  His interview was at 8:30am.  The school was 8 minutes from the hotel.  

We boarded the elevator at 7:45am.  The elevator went to the next floor and picked up 4-5 elderly guests…walkers, canes and all.  The doors shut and the elevator made this weird noise.  I looked at my husband in a panic.  The elevator wasn’t moving.  It was stuck between floors!

Of course, my husband starts freaking out!  He can’t be late to his first interview!  I push the elevator emergency button to which the person on the other end was less then helpful.  I pull out my phone and call the front desk and tell them we are stuck in an elevator…me and my husband along with 4-5 elderly guests.  They tell us they will call 911.

Fifteen more minutes go by…still nothing.  It’s now 8:00am.  He has his interview in 30 minutes.  We start Googling the school and seeing if anyone will answer on a Saturday.  Finally, someone at the school answers.  He explains who he is and that he is currently stuck in an elevator at the hotel the recommended.  He would be there as soon as he could. I call the front desk again and ask them a timeline…they say they have no clue.  I hang up and call 911 myself.  The operator tells me the fire fighters are in route.  Thank Goodness! 

8:10am the elevator doors crack open, a bright light is shone through, and we see a crew of fire fighters.  I climb out with the aid of the fire fighters.  The elevator has my husband and the elderly guests.  He can’t leave them there.  So, he helps lift all of the little old men and ladies out of the elevator…all the time praying he doesn’t rip the brand new suit he is wearing.  Finally, he climbs out.  It’s 8:20am.  Crap. He explains to the fire fighters what is going on….they had a great sense of humor about it and offered to write him a note for the interviewers!  We run to the car and rush to the interview.

He gets to his interview with 1 minute to spare.  He walks in and they knew who he was…no one gets to the interview only 1 minute early on purpose!  During the interview one of his first questions they asked was, “What is one of your biggest pet peeves?”  He responded with a laugh and ‘tardiness.’  He went on to explain what had happened that morning and how he had the privilege of meeting the towns fire fighters.  The interviewers laughed.

Eight days later…he was accepted! 

My husband scheduled 4 interviews and cancelled one of them.  But I went along on the other 3.  One we drove to, the others we had to fly to.  Luckily we had family at home to watch our kids.  The cost of me going was just the extra plane ticket.  No matter if I went or not we would have to rent a car and book a hotel room.  The extra cost to me going was the ticket and a couple extra meals.  Being able to view those cities, the schools, the neighborhoods, the people, helped me so much.  Moving for us is huge…we’ve never lived anywhere but within 30 minutes of where we grew up.  My husband had great input when it came to the medical school and I had different input because of the community.  It gave us the best of both worlds and we were able to decide on what school was best for him while keeping in mind what community was best for me and our kids.