Perhaps It Was Sheer Luck

So...hooray! Finally the burden was lifted off my shoulder. I'm just so glad that the interview was finally over and that I don't have to be concerned about it anymore from now on. What a great relief. So yeah, maybe I should just cut to the chase and tell you all about it before it leaves my mind. As mentioned in the previous post, I had to join the 6.30 am trip from KYUEM to HELP College where the interview is conducted, even though my interview took place at 1.50 pm. Apparently, I was not allowed to join the 11.00 am trip because it was full of quarantined Chemistry students. It's silly, I know. Tell Mr Beadsworth about it. So off we went.

I received a call on our way to Damansara. Guess from whom it was?

"Hazim!"

I know right. What a pleasant surprise. And what's more touching about the call was the fact that he called all the way from Warwick you know. That was super awesome! So we had a chat. It's been a while since the members of P11 last heard of him, so we talked about a lot of things to keep up with each other. I must say that we kinda missed the presence of our own UMNO Youth Chief Leader in our chalet. Ever since he left, his place was taken by a future doctor who lives on an endless supply of cigarettes, Coca-Cola and fast food. And by fast food I mean Burger King, McDonald's and KFC. Nothing less. Don't get me wrong, we all love Isa, don't we? Just don't tell him that. Anyways, it was great to learn that Hazim is doing fine over there. And the fact he's still a virgin. Haha.

We arrived at around 8.10am. Wei Liang was the first among us to be interviewed. His session began at 9.00am. *To KYS people* Guess who did I meet at the interview just now? Salasiah weyh! Haha. It's been a loooong time since I last saw her. Apparently, she's applying to read Medicine in Cambridge. She looked just fine when we met. We had a little chat, but it was a bit awkward because we haven't talked for quite some time now. Tp bagus ar. In the meantime, while waiting for our turns, Umyra and I decided to have our breakfast at a mamak restaurant nearby. *Note to Aainaa* Roti planta die sedap gile wo! Bley challenge MMZ ni. Kalah ar ur ane:P Then, I realised that time was beginning to move very very very slowly.

The hardest part is waiting.

A good 180 minutes had slipped through unnoticed when I learnt the fact that my interview schedule had to be pushed forward a little bit earlier because the person who was supposed to have her interview before me was late. I was actually pretty composed and relaxed in the beginning. I thought I was ready. But after people start asking each other about how they fared in their interviews and expressing their disappointments over unanswerable questions, I kinda lost it a bit. I was left alone in the waiting area while the rest were having their breakfast, in desperation to have a conversation with a living soul to calm down my nerves. Nasib baik Aainaa came to the rescue at the right time. I can always rely on her for that. And before I knew it, Dr. Martin was already calling my name.

He was a nice looking man. Pretty much like Dr Horsfall, but without the belly. He gave me a warm welcome before asking me to sit on the chair. On the table laid a few pieces of paper and a pen. Damn. Please don't ask me math questions. Please don't ask me math questions. I camouflaged my concern over 'the possibility of him asking me about some equations I was not familiar with' by acting cool. Poyo. He then prepared a few pieces of paper for himself before starting the interview. It's your battleground dude. You get to call the shots! Right.

"So, why do you apply to Girton?" The first bomb was dropped.

"Well, um, first of all, it is a relatively small community compared to other colleges, so everyone is kind of closely-knitted to each other. And the atmosphere is pretty vibrant too. Another reason being the strong alumni that every Girton can be proud of. They consist of successful and influential people from all over the world. Even Princess Miyamoto of Japan had attended the college." Princess Miyamoto is not a fictional character, I swear. I did my research.

"I see. Yeah, you do know that Girton is situated a little bit farther than the rest of the colleges right? A little bit up the hill." I just agreed.

"What inspired you to take Land Economy at Cambridge?" Here comes the motherload!

"The inspiration came from my own observation as a Malaysian citizen. As a developing country, we are proud of the rapid development progress taking place in Malaysia. The emergence of big cities like Kuala Lumpur is a great sign of achievement. However, despite the rapid economic growth taking place, we are still yet to tackle the problem of the emergence of slum areas in big cities in Kuala Lumpur. I think this problem can be tackled effectively with proper understanding of the situation." Pergh. But obviously some of the sentences were a little different than the real thing.

"Okay. Can you identify at least five problems that arise resulting from overpopulation in the cities?" Gulp. Owh-kay.

Out of desperation, I managed to mention four to make it in the list. Traffic congestion, pollution, social deprivation, and high crime rates. But what's the last one? Aiseh.

He gave me a clue. "What did you and I have just about an hour ago?"

"Um...an introduction?" Irrelevant and so out of context. I felt so stupid for saying that.

"No. Think again carefully."

"Um...lunch?"

"Right. Exactly. Food. Lack of food supply, because there are too many people to be fed. Resources have to be allocated to cater their needs."

I think I survived the horror.

Then we talked about the application of taxes and subsidies in tackling the issues arising from overpopulation. I thought it was pretty much smooth sailing because some of the things that he asked had been discussed in Mr Conquest's class. And the rest of the interview went just fine.
Dr Martin even wished me luck in my AS exams before I stepped out of the room.

One of the best mathematicians in the world wished me luck in my exams!

On our way back, all of us were sharing our experiences with each other. Some were unfortunate enough to be presented with numbers and difficult equations. Some even had to interpret data from unfamiliar graphs. Teng had to listen to a brief lecture on Fibonacci sequence while Afif was pretty much affected by his interviewer's refusal to shake his hand. I don't really know what to comment on my interview. I personally thought it was great, but we could never be sure of what they really had in mind. Apaperpun, the fact that I was not being asked to solve difficult mathematical questions really saved my ass.



Come to think of it, maybe it was just sheer luck.